The Annals of Tacitus, edited by Beatus Rhenanus, printed by Hieronymus Froben and Nicolaus Episcopius

Title page featuring Johann Froben's printer's mark which his son Hieronymous continued to use when he took over the press.

The colophon and note describing the pagination of the book, or the order in which the folios should be bound.

The copy of Tacitus formerly owned by Newton was printed in 1533 in Basel by Hieronymus Froben and Nicolaus Episcopius, edited by Beatus Rhenanus. It was the second time the press printed the works of Tacitus, the first being in 1519 by Hieronymus’s father, Johan Froben, with commentary by Andrea Alciato. The commentary by Andrea Alciato is included in this edition as well. It is bound in plain vellum, possibly its original binding, although Newton or another early owner may have had it rebound when it was added to their library. 

Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known commonly as Tacitus, was a Roman historian and politician. He is regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians and his Annals, the major work within our book, was his final work. The surviving portions of his two greatest works, the Annals and the Histories cover the reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and those who reigned during the Year of the Four Emperors in AD 69. The Annals consists of at least 16 books, but books seven to ten and parts of books five, six, 11, and 16 are lost. The second half of book 16 is missing and it is unknown if Tacitus finished what he planned to write, since he died before completing the histories of Nerva and Trajan and no works written by him on Augustus and the beginning of the Roman Empire survived. The Annals contains one of the earliest secular historical records that mention Christ in reference to Nero’s persecution of the Christians.