-With a heraldic ex-libris by Andrzej Poradowski -
Cicero. Orationum quotquot exstant, Volume II. Basileae (Basel) 1547. Published by Bartholomeus Westhemerus, 8º, p. 993, [1], period binding, leather-covered boards with embossing and gilding.
With an ex-libris by Andrzej Poradowski, coat of arms: Korab. Volume 2 of the collective Basel edition of Cicero’s orations (Marcus Tullius Cicero; 106–43 BCE), the famous Roman orator, politician, statesman, and philosopher, whose works had a profound influence on European culture and whose study was an essential part of a thorough education. This volume contains some of the orator’s most famous speeches, including the four against Catiline, the Philippics (directed against Mark Antony), in defense of Sulpicius Rufus Murena, in defense of the poet Archias, in defense of Lucius Galerius Flaccus, and “On My House to the Pontiffs.” Each speech is accompanied by commentaries by eminent humanists, including Philip Melanchthon. Bound with preserved elements of the clamps; on the front cover, centered, an embossed and gilded plaque with a worn-away image, above it the title, on the spine a geometric decoration, on the back cover a knurled border with figures of rulers, surrounding a heraldic ex-libris with the Korab coat of arms, on the upper edge an embossed “ANDREAS,” on the lower edge “PORADOVVSKY.” Andrzej Poradowski (16th century), son of Mikołaj, a native of the Rawa region, student at the University of Kraków (enrolled in 1548) (S.V. Korolev, *Cenne...*, p. 171). On the title page, an inscription by Eustachy Bronisz (16th/17th century), likely a citizen of Olsztyn, the local burgrave and mayor, and owner of the Mayor’s House—considered one of the oldest townhouses in Olsztyn. On the endpapers and blank pages are notes (including extensive commentaries on Cicero’s speeches) from the 16th and 17th centuries. Binding defects, leather losses, a missing fragment on pp. 3–4 affecting the text, damage to the edges of some pages, discoloration.
Lit.: S.V. Korolev, “Valuable and Rare Polish Heraldic Superexlibris from the Collections of the National Library of Russia in St. Petersburg,” “Z Badań nad Książką i Księgozbiorami Historycznymi,” 3, 2009, pp. 171–196.
