PLINY THE ELDER. - Lot 28

PLINY THE ELDER. Historiæ Naturalis Libri XXXVII. Leiden: [Bonaventure and Abraham] Elzevier, 1635–1640. — 2 sets in 4 volumes, 12mo, 122 x 69: (12 ff.), 654 pp., (9 ff.); 631 pp., (8 ff.); 582 pp., (9 ff.). Dark green long-grain morocco, with a gilt fillet framing the edges, gilt filigree fleurons at the corners, and a gilt coat of arms in the center on the covers; richly decorated raised spine; gilt fillet on the inside; gilt edges (19th-century binding). Willems, no. 428 – Rahir, no. 420. The only edition of Pliny’s *Natural History* published by the Elzeviers, considered “rightly one of their masterpieces” according to Willems. It is adorned with a title page engraved by Cornelis-Claezoon Duysend after a composition by the painter Pieter Kouwenhorn (1599–1654). This is the only work by Pliny the Elder that has survived to the present day, divided into 37 books. Africa is one of the major subjects of Book V, devoted to ethnography, which begins with these words: “Africa was called Libya by the Greeks, and the sea that washes its shores, the Libyan Sea; it is bounded by Egypt. No region has fewer gulfs; the coasts extend obliquely along a line drawn from the west. The names of its peoples and cities are, perhaps more so than those of any other country, impossible for foreigners to pronounce…” Africa is presented here from a geographical, ethnographic, and naturalistic perspective. Pliny lists the “locations, populations, seas, cities, ports, mountains, rivers, dimensions, and present and past peoples,” drawing on a variety of sources: travelers’ accounts, Agrippa’s maps, the *Formulae provinciarum* (Roman administrative lists), and direct or indirect observations. East Africa is partially discussed in Book VI. A fine copy from the library of George Spencer-Churchill, 5th Duke of Marlborough (1766–1840), with his coat of arms on the covers. Minor wear from handling. Provenance: George Spencer-Churchill, with his coat of arms on the covers. - Francis Kettaneh, with ex-libris. Included in a matching binding: - PLINY THE YOUNGER. Epistolarum Libri X & Panegyricus. Leiden: Elzevier, 1640. — In-18, (12 ff.), 414 pp., (14 ff.). First Elzevirian edition, printed by Bonaventure and Abraham Elzevir. Minor scuffs from handling.