M. Tullii Ciceronis opera Quae Supersunt Omnia
by Marcus Tullius Cicero
| M. Tullii Ciceronis Opera quae Supersunt Omnia | |
 Title page from M. Tullii Ciceronis Opera quae Supersunt Omnia, volume one, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary. | |
| Author | Marcus Tullius Cicero |
| Editor | George Rosse, Pierre-Joseph Thoulier, abbe d' Olivet, Zachary Pearce |
| Published | Glasguae: In Aedibus Academicis, Excudebant Rob. et And. Foulis |
| Date | 1748-1749 |
| Edition | First Foulis |
| Language | Latin |
| Volumes | 20 volume set |
| Desc. | 12mo (14 cm.) |
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BCE-43 BCE) was a Roman statesman, politician, orator and writer.[1] He distinguished himself in the practice of law before entering politics and winning the consulship in 63 BCE.[2] As head of the Senate he thwarted the Catilinarian conspiracy to seize control of the government and struggled to uphold republican ideals amidst the civil wars that destroyed the Roman Republic.[3] With Caesar’s rise to power he ended his political career and devoted himself to writing, producing such works as Consolatio, Hortensius, De Natura Deorum' and the Tusculan Disputations.[4] He was executed at the behest of Mark Antony, whom Cicero had criticized publicly, when Octavian rose to power.[5]
Cicero is considered the foremost Roman orator; his style, which became known as Ciceronian rhetoric, was the primary rhetorical model for centuries.[6] Among his greatest works are his Catilinarian orations, the Phillipics delivered against Mark Antony, and his political works De Legibus, De Re Publica and De Oratore.[7] Cicero’s primary contribution to philosophy was bringing Greek ideas into Latin, allowing Rome to develop its own philosophical traditions.[8] He had a lasting impact on Renaissance and early modern thinkers, including Locke, Montesquieu and Hume.[9] Cicero’s conception of rationally-discernible natural law influenced America’s founders, including John Adams, James Wilson, and Thomas Jefferson.[10] Jefferson explicitly named him as helping establish a notion of “public right” that influenced the Declaration of Independence and the Revolution.[11]
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as Ciceronis opera. Lat. 20.v. 16[mo?]. Foulis and given by Thomas Jefferson to his son-in-law and nephew, John Wayles Eppes. The 1748-1749 edition is the only 20 volume Latin edition published by Foulis. Both Brown's Bibliography[12] and George Wythe's Library[13] on LibraryThing include this edition. The Wolf Law Library followed and purchased the same set.
Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy
Bound in contemporary full polished calf with speckled edges. Each volume includes the signature of previous owner "? Kenneary(?)" on the front pastedown. Volume fourteen's inscription is inverted on the rear pastedown. Purchased from Rose's Books.
View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.
References
- ↑ Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, s.v. "Cicero, Marcus Tullius", accessed October 9, 2013.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy, s.v. "CICERO, Marcus Tullius (106-43 B.C.E.)", accessed October 9, 2013.
- ↑ Philip's Encyclopedia, s.v. "Cicero, Marcus Tullius", accessed October 9, 2013.
- ↑ Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, s. v. "Cicero, Marcus Tullius."
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Classical Philosophy, s. v. "CICERO, Marcus Tullius (106-43 B.C.E.)."
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Walter Nicgorski, "Cicero and the Natural Law", Natural Law, Natural Rights and American Constitutionalism (National Endowment for the Humanities, n.d.), accessed Oct. 9, 2013.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433
- ↑ LibraryThing, s. v. "Member: George Wythe", accessed on October 9, 2013.
External Links
Read volume eighteen of this title in Google Books.
