Manuscript fair copy of the German classical scholar Johan Georg Graevius’s commentary on Suetonius Lives of the Caesars, possibly compiled by someone with connections to Graevius himself. No later than the mid 18th century this is an imposing manuscript with an end note that appears to read: ‘Datore officiore codillos’ - suggesting it might be the work of a notary. This magisterial manuscript is undoubtedly the work of someone with a steady and practised hand, making a scribal vocation seem likely. The term ‘Viri Clarissimi’ in the manuscript title borrows a phrase used about Graevius after his death in some of the tributes paid to him - suggesting the link between our scribe and the scholar himself.
Originally written by Suetonius in the second century AD, Graevius first published his commentaries on the work in Utrecht in 1672 and this manuscript points up the text’s continued sway and influence. It contains a series of detailed biographies of the first emperors of the Roman Empire which cover each ruler’s better qualities before turning to their flaws. So, ‘Augustus, a careful curator of his image wore platform shoes to look taller, while the short-lived emperor Otho covered his bald patch with a hairpiece. Domitian, who terrorised Rome’s Senate as he sank into paranoia, used to sit in solitude stabbing flies to death with a sharpened pen.’ (FT reviewing a new edition of Suetonius, April 2025)
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: 581 pp. Pigskin over boards in very good condition measuring 22 cm x 17 cm. Two small nicks to spine which is unadorned other than title reading ‘Dictata Graevii Suetonium’ - Graevius’s readings from Suetonius. Only slight starting over gutters front and rear. Endpapers clean; a couple of tiny stubs before the main text. Front flyleaf and pp. 1 damp stained to margin, otherwise text block is aligned, unmarked and in excellent condition throughout. Beautiful and legible handwriting fills every leaf leaving a wide margin to each recto. Leaves hand numbered throughout. pp.1 titled 'Viri Clarissimi I.G. Graevii notae in Suetoniom'. Contains the 12 biographies of the first emperors of the Roman Empire – Julius Caesar (p.1), Octavianus Augustus (p.185), Nero (p.285), Caligula (p.345), Tiberius 401, Galba, Otho, Claudius, Vitellius (p.508), Vespasian (p.533) and Domitian (p. 564).
