Author: [SHERBURNE (Sir Edward). QUINTILIAN
Title: M. Fabii Quintiliani Institutionum Oratoriarum Libri Duodecim. Summa diligentia ad fidem vetustissimorum codicum recogniti ac restituti. Accesserunt huic renovatae editioni Declamationes, quae tam ex P. Pithoei, J. C. Clarissimi, quam aliorum Bibliothecis & editionibus colligi potuerunt. Cum Turnebi, Camerarii, Parei, Gronovii, & Aliorum Notis. Cum Indice locupletissimo, tam in Textum, quam Notas.
Description: Lugd. Batav. et Roterodami: Ex officinâ Hackiana. 1665 8vo, 183 x 107 mms., pp. [30], 434, engraved title-page preceding printed title-page, bound in 18th century calf, gilt borders on covers, spine ornately gilt in compartments; lacks label, some slight wear to binding and front joint very slightly cracked. With the armorial bookplate of the Bishop of Bangor on the front paste-down end-paper, the autograph and dated "Orerry 1737" on the verso of the front free end-paper, and a shelf mark in an 18th century hand on the top margin of the recto of the second front free end-paper. A very good copy. This is a handsome 1665 edition of Quintilian once owned and inscribed by Sir Edward Sherburne (1616-1702). His characteristic ownership inscription in his hand, "F. S. L. A.", appears just above the imprint in this copy. The Royalist poet, translator, and military officer Sir Edward Sherburne has, as a book owner, one of the most unusual cypher inscriptions in the history of book ownership. In the new edition of Provenance Research in Book History: A Handbook (2019), David Pearson explains: "Edward Sherburne (1618-1702) used to write F.S. L.A. on his title pages, standing for Felix Servator Lympidarum aquarum Armiger, a rather tortuous Latinization of his name: Edward (= 'happy guardian', hence felix servator, Sherburne (= 'bright stream', hence lympidarum aquarum)" (p. 33). Sherburne's private library was considerable, but only a handful of books with his inscription can be located today. The Oxford DNB and Book Owners Online give details on Sherburne and his library. For Sherburne's inscription, see M. D. Reeve's trail-blazing article, "Acidalius on Manilius", published in The Classical Quarterly (vol. 41, no. 1, 1991, pp. 226-239). In his 1991 article, Reeve pointed out that the initials F.S.L.A. were used by Sir Edward Sherburne to denote his ownership of a volume, and Reeve cited, as primary evidence, ownership markings on one of Sherburne's own works in manuscript (BL MS Sloane 832). Corbett has a good concise take in his History of British Poetry, relaying that Sherburne was "born in London, … was a Roman Catholic, and firmly attached to the fortunes of Charles I., who made him Commissary-General of the Artillery, in which capacity he witnessed the Battle of Edge Hill. He afterwards attended Charles to Oxford, where he received the degree of M.A. He was knighted in 1682. His works consist of Poems and Translations (1651), a Translation of Seneca's Tragedies and The Sphere of Manilius. His writings are marked by considerable genius ... " (Frederick Corbett, A History of British Poetry: From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century (1904), p. 246).

Keywords: classics provenance literature


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