“Πλουτάρχου Παράλληλα εν Βίοις Ελλήνων τε και Ρωμαίων / Plutarchi quae Vocantur Parallela”, Basileae, [Andreas Cratander et Johann Bebel], 1533.

Folio (30.6 x 20.6 cm), pp.[4], 369 leaves. Edited by Simon Grynaus. Text entirely in Greek, except the Simon Grynaeus dedicatory epistle to Johannes Oporinus. Handwritten owners script on title page dated in 1575. Woodcut ornamental initials and chapter ornaments, printer’s device on title page, marks of Cratander on last leaf.

Third edition of Plutarchs Parallel Lives. The first printed edition appeared in Rome in 1470. This is one of the most famous works of Plutarch, edited by Simon Grynaeus (1493-1541), German scholar and theologian of the Protestant reformation. This edition corrects the errors of the manuscript and first Aldine edition. (Adams P1611).

Parallel Lives or Plutarchs Lives, is a work of considerable importance that inspired leading authors and thinkers such as Montaigne, Shakespeare, Dryden, Rousseau, and Emerson. It is formed is a series of 48 biographies of famous men, arranged in pairs illuminating virtues & vices. Plutarchs Life of Alexander is one of the few surviving secondary or tertiary sources about Alexander the Great, and it includes anecdotes and descriptions of incidents that appear in no other source.

Contemporary full vellum with handwritten title on spine.

a1 loose and with repaired loss to lower outer corner, a few letters replaced in facsimile. a2 loose. Part of inner spine detached but still firm and tight. Light marginal spotting, occasional browning, small marginal water-staining to final few leaves.