[16th century book]. HULSIUS (Levinus). XII primorum Caesaru - Lot 106

[16th century book]. HULSIUS (Levinus). XII primorum Caesarum et LXIIII ipsorum uxorum et parentum ex antiquis numismatibus, in aere incisae effigies, atque eorumdem... Vitae... Francoforti ad Moenum, typis J. Collitii, sumpt. P. Brachfeldii, 1597. In-4, [4] f., 198 p., [1] f. (index), fig, contemporary ivory vellum with covers, spine with 4 raised bands, cold roulettes, handwritten title, boards decorated with a central medallion and bordered by a cold roulette, traces of laces, edges chased and gilt (covers browned in places, one corner of flap gnawed; sporadic light spotting in margins, title a little soiled and trimmed in foot margin). First edition of this work dedicated to the emperors and empresses of Roman antiquity. The illustration, entirely engraved on copper, consists of 79 full-page vignettes featuring medallion portraits in ornamental frames, and an architectural and allegorical frame for the title page. An interesting interleaved and extensively annotated copy, comprising an extended text on 15 bound pages at the beginning of the volume, followed by careful underlining and numerous erudite Latin annotations in the text and margins. The copy passed through the library of an unidentified monastery, and in 1621 became the property of a certain Adrian Engelsdorf, of Gdansk (Poland), who affixed his signature to the title and margin of the first page. (USTC 707518; VD16, H5875).