8vo. (XVI including frontispiece),740,(124 index) p. Calf 18 cm (Ref: Schweiger 2,163; not yet in VD18) (Details: Back with 5 raised bands, and divided with gilt dentelles; red gilt shield in second compartment. Engraved frontispiece depicting a seated Cicero among his friends. Title printed in red and black. Every letter begins with a short introduction in German. After the Latin text of each 'epistula' follow notes and commentary in German) (Condition: Binding scuffed, especially at the extremes. Ownership inscription on the title. Partly browning paper) (Note: This edition of the 'Epistulae Familiares' of Cicero was first published in Halle by Renger in 1720. It was produced by the German schoolman Leonhard Christoph Rühl, of whom next to nothing is known. He doesnot figure in ADB, or in the 4th volume of 1751 of Jöcher. He has a short lemma in Zedler's 'Grosse vollständiges Universal-Lexicon aller Wissenschaften und Künste' (col. 1753/53 of volume 23, 1742), where we are told that he is a 'der Philosophie Magister, wie auch Conrector in Aschersleben'. Zedler mentions also a number of titles. In Worldcat a number of editions of classics can be found under his name, an edition of the fables of Phaedrus (1719), the Cebetis Tabula (1727), the Breviarium of Eutropius (1724), the Catonis Disticha (1736), the Germania of Tacitus (1720). All of them have notes in German, and are meant for German schoolboys, to improve their Latin and German. This edition of the 'Epistolae Familiares' was a great success. We found editions of 1722, 1724, 1726, 1729, 1731, 1736, 1745, 1750, 1757, 1759, 1760, 1776 and 1777. There may be more. From 1736 onward they were published anonymously by the Viennese publisher Krauss. In this edition of 1761 a 'privilegium Caesareum' dated 1746, is reprinted after the title page, which continues the privilege of Krauss, 'bibliopola Viennensis', for another 10 years. Krauss was the only one who was allowed to publish this book for the next ten years within the borders of the 'Heiliges Römische Reich' (intra Sacri Romani Imperii fines). (p. *2 recto) The preface opens with the statement that the 'Epistolae Familiares' of Cicero are suited for beginners, because the Latin is easy, and they are an excellent introduction to later authors. 'Denn in selbigen ist das Latein für Anfänger am leichtesten, und sie können auch daraus nach gerade von den Römischen Antiquitäten so viel Nachricht bekommen, dass sie in andern Autoribus desto leichter avanciren können'. (p. *3 recto) The preface consists for the greater part of a short biography of Cicero. At the end (p. *8 recto) we learn that the Latin text of this edition was printed after the earlier edition of Cellarius. And: 'Die Anmerkungen gehen sowohl auf die Latinität, als Antiquitäten, welche, so viel als möglich gewesen, kurz und deutlich gefasset worden') (Provenance: In ink written on the title: 'Procuravit Fr. Fulgentius Schustaczek, Sedlecii, 1 R. 30x' This is frater Fulgentius Schustaczek, a Cisterian monk. He published in 1763 in Prague a lecture that he held on 26 March of 1763: 'Amori Dolore Probato. Seu Deo Homini Formam Servi Induto; Deo Immortali In Carne Mortali Panegyricus'. (...) In Celeberrimo Archi-Episcopali Collegio Ad S. Adalbertum humili dictione expositus'. The title tells about the author that he was 'Sacri Ordinis Cisterciensis, Antiquissimi Monasterii B(eatae) V(irginis) Mariae de Sedlecio Professo', and 'auditor', at the 'praefato Celeberrimo Collegio SS. Theologiae, & SS. Canonum'. The monastery of B(eatae) V(irginis) Mariae' is the Sedlec Abbey, a Cistercian monastery in Sedlec in Bohemia, founded in 1142. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. The Abbey church was dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. Fulgentius was 'auditor' of theology and canon law at the Archiepiscopal College of Saint Adalbert (Kolleg St. Adalbert) at Prague. Our Cistercian monk paid for this book 1 Gulden und 30 Kreuzer. The Kreuzer was used from 1559 throughout the Southern states of the Holy Roman Empire, and in the 18th century also in Austria-Hungary. § In the lower margin 'Rudolphi Minazit..? Schola ?') (Collation: pi1, *8 (minus leaf *8); A-3H8) (Photographs on request)