Roman/Medieval History Recommendations

Hi!

Could anyone recommend some fine press books on Roman/Medieval history? I'm interested in both fiction and non-fiction books. I am aware of what the Limited Editions Club has to offer (I have The Gallic Wars by Caesar, The Little Flowers Of St. Francis of Assisi, Froissart's Chronicles is on it's way too). I would definitely like to get Aesop's Fables by Officina Bodoni but please don't suggest any expensive books.

Thank you in advance! I hope this thread gets at least a couple of answers.

>1 Lukas1990:

"Please don't suggest any expensive books."

You need to eliminate Aesop's Fables by Officina Bodoni from your Wants List. It routinely sells for between $7,000 to $8,000 on the secondary market.

>1 Lukas1990:
"Please don't suggest any expensive books."
Other than the LEC, and some of those have become moderately expensive (a few hundred dollars or more for NF/F), you're basically out of luck if you want inexpensive fine press books. Now, if by "fine" you mean something like Folio Society, you can find quite a few of their books at very affordable prices. But, if you're really looking for fine-letterpress work, you're simply not going to find anything cheap.

>1 Lukas1990:
Folio's SPQR might be what you are looking for. Very nicely produced.
See https://www.flickr.com/photos/warwick_carter/40480596263/in/photolist-24F8CWT

>1 Lukas1990:

1. The Historie of Twelve Caesars, Emperors of Rome by Suetonius Tranquillus, translated by Philemon Holland from the Edition of 1606, Oxford University Press, 1931.

2. The Satyricon of Petronius:

Private press: Charles Carrington (Paris), 1902. Limited edition of 515 copies, or
Limited Editions Club, 1964.

Fine press (inexpensive): Satyrica by Petronius Arbiter, Folio Society (2003)

>2 dlphcoracl: Yes, I meant that I want it but it is too expensive. Sorry for my poor English...

>1 Lukas1990:

Does Folio Society work for you? If so, they published a lot of literature in the Roman history field that's still quite affordable on the secondary market. I could name a few if that's something you're interested in, but I'm not sure if this falls under fine press for you. Most of their work aren't really in that field.

Golden Cockerel Press:
The First Crusade, Somerset de Chair (1945)

Gregynog Press:
The History of Saint Louis, Joinville (1937?)

Shakespeare Head Press:
The Lives of the Noble Grecians And Romans, Plutarch (transl. Thomas North) (1928)
Cronycles, Jean Froissart (1927)
The Travels of Marco Polo, Marco Polo

Limited Editions Club:
The History of Early Rome, Livy (transl. de Selincourt) (1970)
Orations and Essays, Cicero

If you are looking for well made history books at affordable prices I would suggest to check the Folio Society. Below is just a small selection from my own collection, but there is much more available.

Folio Society:
The Roman Revolution, Ronald Syme
The World of late Antiquity, Peter Brown
The Barbarian Invasion of the Roman Empire, Thomas Hodgkin (8 Vols)
Orations, Cicero
Pompeii: The Life od a Roman Town, Mary Beard
The Rise of Rome, Polybius
Natural History, Pliny the Elder
Pagans and Christians, Robin Lane Fox
The Secret History, Procopius
Lives, Plutarch
The War with Hanibal, Livy
A Self Portrait in Letters, Pliny the Younger
The Gallic and Civil Wars, Julius Caesar
Life of Herod, Josephus
The History of the Church, Eusebius
The Travels of Marco Polo, Marco Polo
The History of the Middle Ages (5 vols), Huzinga, Barraclough, Mundy, Moss, Southern
Richard III, Desmond Seward
The Last White Rose, Desmond Seward
The Wars of the Roses, Desmond Seward
The Crusades Through Arab Eyes, Amin Maalouf
Feudal Society, Marc Bloch
The Deeds of the English Kings, William of Malmesbury
Mohammed and Charlemagne, Henri Pirenne
A History of the Crusades (3 vols), Steven Runciman
Medieval Civilisation, Jaques Le Goff
The History of the Kings of Britain, Geoffrey of Monmouth
History of the English Church and People, Bede
Thomas Becket, Frank Barlow
Montaillou, Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie
Chronicles of the Dark Ages, Richard Barber

>7 SF-72:, >8 Stephan68: I own a dozen FS books on medieval/Roman history and they are great but I don't consider them fine press. I thought there are some more alternatives to Limited Editions Club both price and quality-wise but it looks like I'll have to stick with FS and LEC which isn't a bad thing. Though the selection of LEC on these topics is relatively poor.

>9 Lukas1990:

In that case: Folio Society

Lives of the later Caesars, leather-bound, top-edge silvered. It's not fine press but very nice quality and can be found at very decent prices. I paid 30 Euros for mine.

The Twelve Caesars

Daily Life in Ancient Rome

Tom Holland, Rubicon; Dynasty

novels: I, Claudius; Claudius the God - that might not fall under history, but I'll leave that decision up to you

Others I can think of have already been mentioned above, in particular the two by Mary Beard. Somewhat connected there's Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff.

>8 Stephan68:
That's a good list. In the private press category, we could add:

Joan the Maid of Orleans, Grabhorn Press, 1938
Scipio's Dream (Cicero), Clinker Press, 2012
Poeticon Astronomicon (Hygnius), Allen Press, 1985
Egypt (Herodotus), Allen Press, 1989
Complete Works of Petronius, Fanfrolico Press, 1927

>1 Lukas1990:
>9 Lukas1990:

I sense that you are ambivalent with regard to the kind of book collection you wish to assemble. Before diving head first into the collecting pool and purchasing dozens of the aforementioned Folio Society books, I would suggest giving it more thought and perhaps doing the following:

Ask >4 wcarter: and >8 Stephan68: to select one or two finest of the many FS books mentioned above. Then purchase one authentic private press book, i.e., letterpress printing, handmade or mould-made paper, strictly limited edition, etc., in a relatively modest price range ($200-$500). Carefully measure your reaction to them and then decide how to proceed further, before acquiring dozens of FS books.

As an aside, Chris Adamson - the founder of the outstanding (currently dormant) private press website Books and Vines (see link below) - made this mistake in his earliest days as a book collector. Without knowing the range of private press books and publishers available, he became enamored with Easton Press books. Easton Press books and their twin, the Franklin Library, are fine press books which are not printed letterpress, are bound in an inexpensive leather, and are profusely illustrated in a slightly gaudy manner. They have a generic look and feel with a uniformity in appearance some consider attractive. He began aggressively buying them and quickly had a collection of dozens of Easton Press books. He subsequently discovered the George Macy Limited Editions Club (LEC) books, which are true private press books despite their excessive limitations of 1500 to 2000 copies, and realized he greatly preferred the latter. Going further and becoming more knowledgeable, he then became familiar with books a distinct step up from the LEC, e.g., the Golden Cockerel Press, Arion Press, Officina Bodoni, Yolla Bolly Press, etc., and the rest is history.

Chris realized that he did not care for the Easton Press books and this was not what he really wanted to collect. His Easton Press book collection proved to be a very expensive mistake. He would go on to acquire the entire LEC bibliography of nearly 700 books, including the George Macy LECs and the much more expnsive livre d'artiste Sidney Shiff LEC books, as well as numerous high end editions.

Bottom line: Give this more thought and proceed slowly until you have greater clarity and certainty with regard to the kind of book collection you really want.

https://booksandvines.com

Thank you all for your suggestions and advice. Much appreciated!