MANASSES, Constantine; CODINOS, Georges; CHRYSOLORAS, Manuel; Emperor LEO VI; HESYCHIUS of Miletus; LEUNCLAVIUS, Johannes (trans.); MEDON, Bernard (trans.); LAMBECK, Peter (ed.); MEURSIUS, Johannes (ed.); ALLACCI, Leone (ed.); FABROT, Charles-Annibal (ed.)., Const. Manassis Breviarium historicum, ex interpretatione Joannis Leunclavii, cum eiusdem et Joannis Meursii notis. Accedit variarum lectionum libellus, cura Leonis Allatii et Caroli Annibalis Fabroti IC. Item glossarium graeco-barbarum, studio eiusdem Fabroti. | Georgii Codini et alterius cuiusdam anonymi Excerpta de antiquitatibus constantinopolitanis, edita in lucem opera & studio Petri Lambecii […]: cum Latina versione & Animadversionibus necessariis. Accedunt Manuelis Chrysolorae Epistolae tres de comparatione veteris et novae Romae. Et Imp. Leonis cognomine Sapientis oracula cum figuris, atque antiqua Graeca Paraphrasi. Addita est etiam Explicatio officiorum sanctae ac magnae Ecclesiae […] interprete Bernardo Medonio Tolosate., Typographia Regia (Sebastien Cramoisy), 1655

Folio, contemporary vellum binding with tan leather gilt-lettered labels to spine, raised bands, red sprinkled edges, embossed linear ornamentation to boards, 2 vols. (item consisting of two works in two separate volumes yet, as the half title and prefatory material in vol. 1 indicate, the works were published as a set), pp. [ff. 2 blank + 4], 197, [pp. 5 + 2 blank]; [ff. 2 blank + 6], 323 [2 blank], with elaborate copper-engraved royal printer’s colophon to title page and elaborate allegorical ornamentation throughout the volumes. Contents of volume 1: half title (“Constantini Manassis Breviarum Historicum. Et Georgius Codinus De Originibus Constantinopolitanis”); title page; dedication to Cardinal Mazarin by the royal printer Sebastien Cramoisy; contents to vols. 1 and 2; “Compendium chronicum”; “Notationes locorum quorundam”; notes by Johannes Meursius; further notes by Leone Allacci; further notes by Charles-Annibal Fabrot; “Glossarium”; “Rerum ac verborum in his annalibus praecipve memorabilium Index”; name, place and date of printing. Contents of volume 2: half title (“Georgii Codini Excerpta de antiquitatibus Constantinopolitanis”); title page; dedication to Cardinal Francesco Barberini by Peter Lambeck; “De Originibus Constantinopolitanis”; “Anonymi collectanea, De Antiquitatibus Constantinopolitanis”; letter from Manuel Chrysoloras to Emperor John VIII Palaiologos; letter from Manuel Chrysoloras to John Chrysoloras; title page of “Petri Lambecii Hamburgensis Animadversiones in Georgii Codini, et alterius cuiusdam Anonymi Excerpta, de Antiquitatibus Constantinopolitanis”; Lambeck’s preface; “Animadversiones In Georgii Codini Excerpta”; “Petri Lambecii Animadversiones in Anonymi Collectanea De Antiquitatibus CP.”; “Index Auctorum”; “Index Rerum et verborum memorabilium”; notes to “Georgii Codini Origines Constantinopolitanis” by Johannes Meursius; title page of “Imperatoris Leonis cognomine sapientis Oracula, cum figuris et antiqua Graeca paraphrasi”; preface by Peter Lambeck; “Veterum auctorum testimonia de Imperatore Leone cognominato Sapiente, eiusque Oraculis”; poetry by Leo VI with copper-engraved illustrations juxtaposed; annotations to Leo VI’s “Oracula” by Peter Lambeck; anonymous “Expositio” of Leo VI’s “Oracula”; title pages to “Explicatio officiorum sanctae ac magnae ecclesiae iuxta eorum ordinem: auctore incerto” translated into Latin by Bernard Medon; dedication by Medon to Jacques de Marmiesse; “Lectori Candido”; “Glossarium”; “Explicatio officiorum sanctae ac magnae ecclesiae, iuxta eorum ordinem”. An important two-volume set making part of the monumental Corpus byzantinae historiae, begun in Paris in 1645 under the direction of Philippe Labbe and the auspices of Louis XIV. The set focuses on three main texts, both from Medieval Byzantium and translated into Latin with the Medieval Greek and Latin side-by-side, and appended by extensive annotations by a number of scholars. They include initially histories of the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople by Constantine Manasses and Georges Codinos, followed by a series of “Oracula” by Emperor Leo VI. Involved in the publication were some of the leading scholars in Europe, including Johannes Leunclavius, Bernard Medon, Peter Lambeck, Johannes Meursius, Leone Allacci and Charles-Annibal Fabrot. Labels chipped with significant loss to that of vol. 2, binding slightly bumped and rubbed, some minor worming from page 297 to 323, repair work to pastedowns; otherwise a tight, bright copy in excellent condition. Text in Medieval Greek and Latin.