De Bello Peloponnesiaco libri VIII, iidem Latine, ex interpretatione Laurentii Vallae, ab Henrico Stephano recognita

[Geneva]: Henri Estienne, 1588. 2nd Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 2nd Edition. Hardcover. Folio - over 12 - 15" tall. Folio (348 x 221 mm). [20], 621, [15], 73, [7] pp. Signatures: (par)6 2(par)4 a-3n6 3o4. Double column Greek and Latin text, woodcut device on title. Bound in 17th century morocco, regilded and rebacked. Text little browned, occasional foxing, two leaves in signature ss misbound. Very good copy. ----

PMM 102 (this edition); Adams T667; Renouard, Estienne, 152-153; Schreiber, Estienne, 216; Dibdin II, 506. - Second Estienne edition. Thucydides recognised that the Peloponnesian war was the event of greatest importance in the history of Greece and he devoted himself to recording it in the belief that knowledge of the past is the best guide to the future. With De bello Peloponnesiaco Thucydides established the highest historical methods and standards, limiting his sources to either personal knowledge or verifiable witnesses in order to present as accurate and objective a picture of the event as possible and thus to provide a 'possession for all time'. It is our only record of the history of that war. The Estienne 1588 edition is "generally considered the best 16th-century edition of the greatest historian of Athens. For this new edition Estienne has corrected the Greek text and scholia, as well as further revised Valla's Latin translation, which is now printed on the same page with the Greek text in parallel columns, while the Greek scholia are printed at the foot of the page" (Schreiber). The printining place is uncertain. PMM states Geneva as place whereas Dibdin mentions the work as being printed in Paris. - Visit our website for additional images and information.