Philippus Pincius, 1494

CAESAR, Gaius Julius (100-44). Commentarii. Edited by Hieronymus Bononius. Venice: Philippus Pincius, 25 October 1494.

Early edition of Caesar's classic military narratives, as well as other pseudo-Caesarian historical works. This edition, by the prolific Venetian printer of classical literature Philippus Pincius, is a close reprint of that of T. de Ragazonibus. It begins with Julius Caesar's famous accounts of his Gallic campaigns and the Civil War which resulted from the breakdown of the political alliance known as the First Triumvirate, but also includes several accounts of Caesar's other campaigns—written in the spirit of the famous general but not actually from his stylus. A possible attribution is his contemporary, Aulus Hirtius.

Caesar's firsthand report of the Gallic Wars, well known to centuries of school children for its direct prose style and adventurous narrative, is an important if ambiguous source for the history of the Celtic peoples. It contains now famous accounts of the rebellion of Vercingetorix, the elusive unicorns who dwell in the Hercynian forest, and the activities of the mysterious druids—whom he describes as studying astronomy and performing human sacrifices in the now iconic Wicker Man. After the European discovery of the Americas in 1492, only two years before the printing of this edition, Caesar's description of the Gallic tribes became a model for the understanding and cultural perception of Native Americans. Goff C-24; Bod-inc C-012; BMC V 496; BSB-Ink C-30; GW 5871.

Chancery folio (271 x 186mm). 134 leaves. First text leaf printed in red and black. Woodcut initials, woodcut of Saint Anthony on register page (one or two discreet marginal repairs, minute fingersoiling at ends). 20th-century stamped calf to style (a little scuffed).