4to. 2 volumes in 1: (XXVIII, including a frontispiece),1035,(33 index) p., portrait of Caesar, 3 folding maps, and 10 (folding) plates. Calf 25 cm. (Ref: STCN ppn 189161027; Neue Pauly, Suppl. 2 p. 129; Schweiger 2,46/47; Dibdin 1,363: 'An admirable and truly critical edition'; Brunet 1,1456/57; Moss 1,236; Fabricius/Ernesti 1,264; Graesse 2,8; Ebert 3282; Spoelder p. 642/43, Middelburg 4) (Details: Prize copy, without the prize. Backstrip adorned by gilt rolls. Red morocco shield in the 'second compartment'. Boards with gilt palmette borders, and the gilt coat of arms of Middelburg in the center. The allegoric frontispiece is designed and executed by F. van Bleyswyck, in the middle a kind of monument with the portrait of Caesar; in front of this monument sit 2 women, one of them is winged; they hold between them broken shackles; right of the portrait a winged male with a flame on his head, holding a roll with a floor plan, and also 2 women, one of them is holding a pyramide in her right arm and a crown in her right hand; this crown hovers above the head of Caesar; another woman, who holds a 'cornu copiae' flings coins; above this scene Fama, who blows her trumpet. Title printed in red and black. Woodcut Luchtmans's printer's mark on the title, motto 'Tuta sub Aegide Pallas'. A map of the Roman empire, Gallia and Hispania) (Condition: Binding worn at the extremities. Back scuffed, boards scratched, corners bumped. Wear to the front joint, which is splitting near the head and tail. New endpapers. Bookplate on the front flyleaf. Right lower corner of ca. 12 p. slightly waterstained. Paper of the same corner partly slightly warped) (Note: Throughout the 17th and 18th century in Europe the Roman historian Julius Caesar, 100-44 B.C., remained central to the education of the sons of the elite who trained for public life. He figured as an exemplary military leader. The politician and then tyrant Caesar enjoyed popularity, but was however also controversial in Europe, that was torn apart by bloody religious and civil wars. His dictatorship remained problematic, though some justified his usurpation of power as the only way out of turmoils of the Roman republic. § This solid and valuable edition of 1737, comprehending the commentaries of Vossius, Davis and Clarke, is a great step forward for the text of Caesar. It was produced by the Dutch classical scholar Franciscus Oudendorp, 1696-1761, and immediately eclipsed all preceding editions. Oudendorp was, according to Sandys, the last of the great latinists of his age. For the last 20 years of his life he was professor of Eloquence (Latin) and History at the University of Leiden. He published also indispensable editions of Apuleius and Lucan. 'His 1737 edition of Caesar reveals a concern hitherto almost unknown, with the collecting and sifting of large numbers of variants. He drew up a list of some forty codices that had been consulted (either by him or by others at his request). (...) Oudendorp made a valiant attempt to cope with many manuscripts, his being the first serious attempt at 'recensio'. Oudendorp's edition was so authoritative and had such an impact that, for over a hundred years, few scholars dared to tread in the same path'. (V. Brown, 'The Textual Transmission of Caesar's Civil War', Leiden 1972, p. 5) This period came to an end in 1847 with the first modern critical edition of Karl Nipperdey) (Provenance: Armorial bookplate of 'Van der Veen, Hondius' on the front flyleaf. Janna Carla van der Veen- Hondius, who died in 2010 in Oostkapelle, Zeeland, at the age of 81, was an honorary member of the Koninklijk Zeeuws Genootschap der Wetenschappen. She and her husband Pieter were the owners of the mansion Duinbeek at Ooskapelle) (Collation: pi1 (frontispiece), *4 (minus leaf *4); 2*-3*4, 4*2; A-3S4, 3T4 (3T2 + chi1 = title page volume 2), 3V-4C4, 4D4 (plusminus 4D4), 4E-4P4, 4Q4 (plusminus 4Q2), 4R-6S4, 6T2) Our copy has 2 cancels and a title to the second volume that the STCN copy does not mention) (Photographs on request) (Heavy book, may require extra shipping costs)