A lawyer and statesman of the Roman Republic, Cicero is regarded as one of most important orators of the ancient world. His many speeches delivered before the Roman Senate, court, and people are famed for their highly crafted rhetorical style. Preserved by his secretary Tiro, they were widely disseminated and survived into the Middle Ages.

In 1345, copies of Cicero’s lesser-known personal correspondence were rediscovered by the Italian humanist Petrarch, inspiring a new appreciation of his life and works in the European Renaissance. These Epistolae ad familiares (‘letters to friends’) were written by Cicero to friends, family and acquaintances, including his close friend Marcus Pomponius Atticus, his brother Quintus Tullius Cicero, and the conspirator Marcus Junius Brutus. Together, the letters provide a remarkable insight into the tumultuous final decades of the Roman Republic.

This 1540 edition was edited and printed by Paulus Manutius, son of the famous Venetian printer Aldus Manutius. This particular copy was previously believed to have belonged to Elizabeth I before her ascension to the throne. However, the crowned falcon stamp on the binding—an emblem of Elizabeth’s mother Anne Boleyn—is one of several versions used by trade bookbinders around 1600, and does not necessarily indicate a royal provenance.

Bibliographic description
8vo. 267, [10], [40] leaves. Signatures: A-Z8, AA-MM8, AAA-EEE8.

Binding description
Early seventeenth century English binding of brown calf over pasteboard, probably by Williamson of Eton; sewn on three(?) recessed cords; rebacked with original spine leather retained. On both covers, a central gilt crowned falcon; outer border comprised of three blind fillets with the middle line tooled over in gold, with small gilt floral tools at intersections; gilt ornamental buds to interior corners. Board edges tooled with a single blind fillet. Spine flat, divided into seven compartment by gilt double fillets, with a four-pointed foliate tool to centres flanked by small quatrefoils; later title label in second compartment; original headbands of blue and plain thread. Textblock sprinkled red.

Both covers have a scattering of blind letters ‘F’, mainly around the crowned falcon (more than doubled on the lower cover) and at head and tail, with faint traces almost at random (e.g., on the upper cover above the falcon, and about 2.5″ from the board edge). These likely signify an ownership initial or a common motif such as ‘Fide’, and may be later additions to the binding. The title-page is stamped with a similar (but not identical, and inked) ‘F’ and the undeciphered phrase or code ‘FAS M’.

Included by Richard Rivington Holmes, Royal Libarian 1870–1905, in his Specimens of Royal, Fine and Historical Bookbinding (1893), no. 9.