3 - BERGIER, Nicolas.

BERGIER, Nicolas. History of the Major Roads of the Roman Empire. Paris: C. Morel, 1622. A substantial volume in small quarto, (20) folios including title page and frontispiece, 112 pages, (2) folios and pages 113–295, (2) folios and pages 297–564, (2) folios and pp. 565–768, (2) folios and pp. 769–854, (14) folios. 18th-19th-century marbled sheepskin, probably Spanish; decorated ribbed spine; gilt roulette framing the covers; yellow edges (split hinges, loose quire, foxing, uniformly browned leaves). First edition. Bergier’s most remarkable work, devoted to the road network of ancient Rome. One of the copies featuring the beautiful title-frontispiece page with a portico etched in black. Nicolas Bergier (1567–1623), a scholar from Reims, jurist, and historian of Roman antiquity, was appointed historiographer of France thanks in particular to the support of President de Bellièvre. Provenance: an old bookplate printed with the inscription “Biblioteca del Excmo. Señor Marqués (de) Astorga.”