Exquisitely bound Estienne edition of these two texts by the Roman author Macrobius. The first is a commentary on the Dream of Scipio narrated by Cicero at the end of the Republic in which the elder Scipio appears to his grandson, and describes the life of the good after death and the constitution of the universe from a Stoic and Neo-Platonic point of view; from this Macrobius discourses upon the nature of the cosmos, transmitting much classical philosophy to the later Middle Ages. The second work, Macrobius Saturnalia, with its idolisation of Rome s pagan past, has been described as a pagan machine de guerre . It recounts the discussions held at the house of Vettius Agorius Praetextatus (c. 325-385) during the Saturnalia holiday and was written for the benefit of Macrobius son Eustachius. He covers a broad range of topics mythological, astronomical and medical, tantalizingly citing numerous ancient texts, many of them now lost to history. This text was edited by the renowned printer Henri Estienne. Estienne apologised for the quality of the printing of this edition: some leaves are rather light, though the text remains clearly legible. This edition is important as it is based on manuscripts that had been recently viewed by Estienne himself. Upon its publication it was sent to the famed Frankfurt Fair. As well as the text and commentary, Estienne included an explanation of the process of examining ancient manuscripts in order to arrive at the most complete and definitive text possible, providing a fascinating insight into Renaissance textual transmission.
