This collection, all bound by the same bookbinder, features work by Marcus Tullius Cicero. Cicero, a Roman orator known for his rhetoric, was among the most widely-taught Roman writers in the 18th century. This collection consists of both Cicero’s works and commentary by various scholars, compiled by Isaac Verburg, the 1700s rector of the Latin School in Amsterdam. The first part of each volume has red print on the title page and an engraved image (showed below).
Not much is known about Verburg himself, but we do know that he collaborated with Peiter Burman the Younger in his Chrestomathia Petronio. Pieter Burman the Younger, along with his more famous uncle and mentor, was well-known for fiercely defending his cause in the classics scholarship debates of the eighteenth century. One such debate was over the reason and method of studying classical languages: should students focus on the moral truths they learn from ancient authors, or should classical editions emphasize detailed textual criticism? Burman, along with many other Dutch scholars like Richard Bentley, was in the camp of the latter, whilst many French scholars like Jean Le Clerc were in the former. In order to emphasize the textual over the moral in classical literature, Burman the Elder published an edition of Petronius’ Satyrica, a work widely considered to be inappropriate and immoral. Jean Le Clerc responded by writing a negative review of Burman’s work, especially the aspects he considered to be un-Christian—and in response, Richard Bentley sent an anonymous manuscript discussing 323 text-critical mistakes that Le Clerc had made in one of his own works.
Verburg’s Ciceronis Opera was published around the time when classical scholarship was seeing an influx of similar works: editions, that is, that often described themselves with the phrase cum notis variorum (“works of various scholars”). These works adhered to the philosophy of Verburg’s colleague Burman, who believed that detailed textual scholarship was the most valuable part of classical scholarship. The notes on each book in this Verburg collection were compiled from no less than ten contributors, and a look at the pages reveals that the notes on Cicero’s text are sometimes more plentiful than the text itself.
Some notable people whose scholarly notes are used in Verberg’s editions of Cicero include: Paulus Manutius, a Venetian printer-publisher whose father helped invent the italic typeface; Denis Lambin, a classical scholar who accompanied the Cardinal de Tournon to Rome; Jan Gruter, who lost his position at the University of Wittenberg due to his staunch Calvinist beliefs; and Jakob Gronow, whose son was a botanist and patron of Carl Linnaeus.
Bibliography:
Barnhart, J. H. (1965). Biographical notes upon botanists. Compiled by John Hendley Barnhart and maintained in the New York Botanical Garden Library. G. K. Hall.
Briggs, Ward. “BURMAN, Pieter (the Younger).” Database of Classical Scholars. Accessed July 29, 2024. https://dbcs.rutgers.edu/all-scholars/burman-pieter-the-younger.
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Aldus Manutius." Encyclopedia Britannica, March 25, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aldus-Manutius.
Burman, Pieter, Isaac Verburg, and Tiberius Hemsterhuys. Chrestomathia Petronio-Burmanniana. Florence, Italy: Sumtibus Societatis, 1734.
Ferguson, John, and John P.V. Dacre Balsdon. “Cicero.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Accessed July 29, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cicero.
“Jan Gruter [Janus Gruterus] (1560–1627).” Early Modern Letters Online. Accessed July 29, 2024. http://emlo-portal.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/collections/?catalogue=jan-gruter.
Quinkhard, Jan Maurits. “Portrait of Isaac Verburg, Rector of the Latin School in Amsterdam.” Rijksmuseum, 1725. Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam. https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/SK-A-1354.
Stevens, Linton C. “Denis Lambin: Humanist, Courtier, Philologist, and Lecteur Royal.” Studies in the Renaissance 9 (1962): 234–41. https://doi.org/10.2307/2857118. http://www.gronovius.com/f_0.html
Verhaart, F. (2020), 2. Classical learning in Britain, France, and the Dutch Republic, 1690-1750 : beyond the ancients and the moderns / Floris Verhaart. (First edition). Oxford University Press.
Verhaart, F. (2021, August 17), 10:25. The Collectio ad usum Delphini. YouTube. https://youtu.be/GD8NI0K2IMw
