[APPIAN OF ALEXANDRIA]. - Appian alexandrini romanarum historiarum libri, gr., ex Bibliotheca Regia.ÊLutetia [Paris] Caroli Stephani, 1551.

Princeps editio of AppianÕs celebratedÊRoman History.ÊPraised through the centuries as an invaluable source of information about Roman History and especially the Civil War years, AppianÕs works gives a detailed account of its various peoples and regions, from the earliest times down to their incorporation into the Empire. The ethnographic structure of this work is of special interest: Appian most likely used this structure to facilitate his readers' orientation through the sequence of events which occur in different places and are united only by their relationship to Rome.Although five out 28 chapters of theÊRoman HistoryÊwere printed in Venice during the 1470s, all bibliographical references agree on the fact that this first complete issue is to be considered as the trueÊPrinceps Editio.ÊStarted by Robert Estienne, this edition was completed and printed by his younger brother Charles. For the first time in a classical text, all three sizes of Claude Garamond's famous ÇGrecs du RoiÈ typeface were used here.ÊFine copy, in contemporary binding. Two small library stamps on the title and first page of text, minor restoration work to the last two leaves affecting a few words of text, yet a very good interior condition, clean and crisp, with large margins.Brunet I, 356: ÇPremière édition, belle et rareÈ.Schreiber, 126; Editio Princeps... generally cited to be the supreme example of the use of the Royal Greek typesÈ.Updike, Printing Types I, 23-8 :ÊÇone of the most exquisite booksÈ;ÊÊÇThe type in mass, and the proportion and imposition of the type-page, are veryÊsplendidÈ;ÊÊÇThe superb decorations and initials by Tory are wonderful, in their accord with the colour of the Greek text, in their printable qualities and in their grace of designÈ.ÊSee also: Adams A-1340; Graesse I, 168.Ê