Comoediae ex recensione Danielis Hensii, collat ad antiquissimos Mss. Codices Biblithecae Vatincae. 2 vols. Small Folio

Terence [Publius Terentius Afer] (c. 195 - 159 BCE). P. Terentii Afri comoediae ex recensione Danielis Heinsii collata ad antiquissimos mss. codices bibliothecae Vaticanae . . . 2 vols. [8], xxxii, 254; 252pp. With numerous engravings (some full-page) in the text. Rome: Impensis Nicolai Roisechii, 1767. 255 x 306 mm. (uncut). Half vellum, decorated boards, titles in gilt on the spines, some soiling and wear, small splits in spines, splash of white paint on spine of Vol. II. Edges a bit dust-soiled, occasional minor foxing but very good.

Second edition of Niccolò Fortiguerra's translation of Terence's plays into Italian verse, originally published in Umbria in 1736; the Italian translation is accompanied by the original Latin text, along with variant readings and critical notes. The engravings illustrating both editions are important reproductions of the illustrations in the ninth-century Codex Vaticanus Latinus 3868, which is believed to have been copied from a third-century Late Classical manuscript (now lost). These illustrations, of theatrical masks and actors in costume, were the best source for images of Roman dramaturgy prior to the twentieth century.