Beschreibung:

SENECA, Lucius Annaeus (the younger, ca.4 B.C./1 A.D.- 65 A.D.). Tragoediae . [Ferrara:] Andreas Belfortis, [ca. September 1484]. Chancery 2° (293 x 193mm). Collation: a-b 10 c 8 d 10 e 8 f-h 10 i-k 8 l 10 m-n 8 o 10 p 6 q 10 r-t 8 u 6 (a1r text, u6v colophon). 174 leaves. 34 lines. Types 2:116R, Greek on 143v and 174v. Printed signatures begin with n3, prior to that they are stamped by hand in extreme right-hand lower corner. One 8-line initial (washed) on first leaf, other 3- to 4-line spaces with guide-letters, those to f5 with initials in red, others apparently washed out, spaces to indicate speaking parts filled in in red. (Small wormholes in quires a-d, t-u, filled on first leaf, some marginal annotations washed, light brown spots in a few leaves.) Gold-tooled red morocco over pasteboard, sides with fillets and Botfield arms at centre, spine tooled in compartments, gilt turn-ins, yellow endpapers, gilt edges, [by Charles Lewis]. Provenance : Beriah Botfield, acquired from Payne & Foss ca.1830 for #18.18.0, the price pencilled on front endpaper (P. & F. Acquisitions, p.82). FIRST EDITION. Probably intended to be read rather than performed, Seneca's tragedies were revived and enjoyed great popularity in the fourteenth century at the court of Avignon, where Petrarch may possibly have encountered them. Their wider popularity may be witnessed in the commentary written by Nicholas Trevet Dominican of Oxford, and Guarino of Verona's lectures on them at Ferrara. John Gunthorpe, dean of Wells, heard Guarino lecture, and copied a manuscript of them for his own use (BL, Ms. Harley 2485). The reputation of Guarino and those lectures may have been in part responsible for this first edition appearing at Ferrara. The nine Senecan tragedies are joined by the pseudo-Senecan Octavia . It is the sole surviving example of a fabula praetexta , a drama on a Roman historical theme, and appears to foretell the death of Nero. Seneca, whose own death was brought about by his reputed involvement in the Pisonian conspiracy against Nero, appears as a character, and its historical accuracy indicates it was written after 68 A.D. Belfortis, first printer at Ferrara, is also known as a scrivener there from 1470. He apparently continued practicing as such, since his printing activity was intermittent. In this book, Belfortis changed from his earlier habit of stamping in the signatures by hand in the extreme lower right corner (up to n3) to printing them in the usual way just below the page block as set type. LARGE COPY. HCR 14662; BMC VI, 603 (IB. 25621); Goff S-433; IGI 8905; Flodr, Seneca 115