De Moribus ac ritibus gentium libri III. Nunc primum in lucem editi. Quod opus quanta rerum varietate refertum, quamq ; omnibus ingeniis utile ac necessarium sit, sequens elenchus, & auctoris proœmium indicabunt.

First edition by a forgotten Ferrarese polygraph and historian, which nevertheless enjoyed considerable success upon publication and was followed by two subsequent editions in 1577 and 1599. According to Marc Adam Kolakowski, Alessandro Sardi, together with Johannes Boemus, pioneered the use of "antiquarian and ethnographic perspectives" in the study of ancient religions.

Fine historiated initials depicting various Greco-Roman deities.

Later full parchment binding with turn-ins, flat spine with title in brown ink and two annotations, likely from a library classification system, also in brown ink, original ties present. Ink ownership inscription on title page reading: "Louis Joséphi Civitatis Novae".

Minor holes to boards, slightly warped, marginal stain to upper board, minor wormholes to pastedowns, marginal dampstaining to pp. 17-63, 79-113, and 225-255. Overall a fine copy.

Several lines underlined in brown ink and some corrections, also in brown ink, on pp. 38, 39, and 241. In both cases, probably in the same hand as the ownership inscription.

"The work surveys in no particular order the varied customs of Rome, Greek cities, Egypt, Persia, and India relating to marriage, birth, and education; it discusses clothing, diet, medicine, wills, and funerals, before addressing the founding of cities, colonies, and the organization of states (tribes, classes, orders, magistracies, laws in Athens and Rome), the kingdoms of Persia and Parthia, judges, tribunals, and punishments. It then treats warfare and its rituals, before devoting some twenty pages (186-195) to sacrifices, both animal and human, with comparisons of Greek and Roman procedures, considerations on altars, temples, cult images, sacred caves, oracles, priests, augurs, pontiffs, vestal virgins, flamens, Salii, hierophants, galli, and other sacerdotes including Egyptian. From there it moves without transition to dwellings (houses, cities), to poetic, Olympic, Isthmian, Pythian, Nemean, and other games, then to processions, lectisternia, supplications, concluding with a chapter on the life of early Christians.

As Alessandro Sardi states on the second page of his "Proemium":

"I have therefore written on Customs, and not always separating them by peoples and nations, for fear of repeating too often the same things, or similar things, when customs differ not at all or sometimes so little; but I have proceeded by grouping them according to actions one after another, beginning with nuptials and continuing to funeral processions, and from there moving toward those which appeared neglected in the account: war, sacrifices, and all such matters"."

L'invention de la religion grecque, Philippe Borgeaud, Kernos 30, 30 | 2017

(our own translation)