Terence was a Roman playwright who emulated the works of Greek authors, using a colloquial style familiar with his contemporary audiences. His plays were popular throughout Antiquity and the Middle Ages; they were also used to learn Latin, thanks to their high register as well as everyday language.

This edition of the plays of Terence was printed by the brothers Giovanni and Gregorio de’ Gregori in Venice.

Binding description
Original sixteenth-century brown calfskin over paperboards. Covers decorated with blind-stamped triple fillets to form a border and inner panel, with a blind-stamped border design depicting a hunting scene in between the two; floral emblems (lower cover) and fleurs-de-lis (upper cover) in the centre. Evidence of tie laces on both boards, glued under the pastedowns. Spine with four sewing stations and three raised bands; three small (just over a square centimetre) medieval manuscript fragments can also be seen inside both boards. Bottom fore-edge shows 'Terentius' written in ink by a contemporary hand, which may suggest how the volume was, at one point, stored. Original parchment endpapers.