Iusti Lipsi. De Vesta et Vestalibus Syntagma. Altera editio, atque ab ultimâ Auctoris manu, Notis auctior, & Figuris illustrior. Antverpiae, Ex Officina Plantiniana, Apud Ioannem Moretum, 1609, Second Edition. Cum Privileges Caesareo & duorum Regum. Modern marbled binding, 62 pp, 9.75 x 6.75", large octavo. In fair condition. Modern boards scuffed at edges and worn/bumped at corners. Marbled paper dulled & soiled from shelf-wear. Head of spine split at front hinge with exposed binding. Black ink lettering on spine chipped, but mostly legible. Previous ownership plate on modern front fly-leaf: Ex Libris Lee Edmonds Grove. Some pencil marginalia on modern end-pages. Finger-soiling exhibited on title page, bottom corner. General toning throughout text-block. Front gutter split at page 1, cording exposed. Light age-satining in some instances. Binder's ticket found on bottom edge of rear paste-down: Toombs Bookshop Inc., Chicago. Modern binding intact. Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. Justus Lipsius (Joest Lips or Joost Lips; 1547 - 1606) was a Flemish Catholic philologist, philosopher, and humanist. Lipsius wrote a series of works designed to revive ancient Stoicism in a form that would be compatible with Christianity. The most famous of these is De Constantia (On Constancy). His form of Stoicism influenced a number of contemporary thinkers, creating the intellectual movement of Neostoicism. He taught at universities in Jena, Leiden, and Leuven. De Vesta et Vestabilibus includes 10 engravings, one being a full-page plate. Depicting vestments of the Vestal Virgins. In Ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins were priestesses of Vesta, virgin Goddesses of Rome's sacred hearth and flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty from a number of suitable candidates, freed form any legal ties and obligations to their birth family, and enrolled in Vesta's priestly college of six priestesses. Vestal costume had elements in common with high-status Roman bridal dress, and with the formal dress of high-status Roman matrons. Vestals wore long linen palla over a white woolen sola, equivalent to the male citizen's semi-circular toga. A Vestal's hair was bound into a white, priestly infula with red and white ribbons. The Plantin Press at Antwerp was one of the focal centers of the fine printed book in the 16th century. Christophe Plantin (c. 1520-1589) of Touraine was trained as a bookbinder. He fled from Paris where at least one printer had recently been burned at the stake for heresy, and went to Antwerp. By 1555 he began to print books as a profession in Antwerp. Plantin took on an assistant, Jan Moretus (1543-1610), who could read Greek and Latin and could write correspondence in several modern languages. He became Plantin's business manager, son-in-law, and, eventually, his successor in the Plantin printing press. Under Moretus' management, the company focused on 12mo format for text-books, doing away with the smaller handbook (enchiridion), favored under his predecessor. Moretus' works and archives are held in the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp. RAREE1609GSUQ 04/24 - HK1401
