Books attributed to Josephus found in the PLRE.Folger Database
Identified editions of Josephus were mainly printed in Latin and/or Greek; 13 were in Latin, two in Latin and Greek, three in Greek, one in Spanish, and two in English.
An interesting note is that the two editions printed in English were both owned by women. This was likely because Latin and Greek, being the languages of humanism and scholarly works, were rarely taught to women. The few women who were able to learn Latin and/or Greek were typically royalty or upper nobility, and they were usually taught at the insistence of a male figure, such as their father or guardian.
Within the PLRE.Folger Database, 21 works related to Josephus were identified: five were close matches, 12 were partial matches, and four were different works.
The large number of unidentified works can likely be attributed not only to incomplete records, but also to the similar names given to works of Jewish history during the period. This may also be due to the presence of another work, the Sefer Yosippon, which was an account of Jewish history from the destruction of Babylon to the downfall of the Jewish state. The author claimed to be Flavius Josephus, however, scholars believe he was likely a Jew living in southern Italy around the tenth century.
For the entries identified as being a single portion of Josephus' works, some may be incorrect and actually have been the entire works of Josephus, but they are ultimately categorized by how they are identified on the edited list. As mentioned previously, the records made of inventories and booklists were not always complete, especially when they were created for probate inventories.
The trend of scholars being the most represented owners continues with the Works of Josephus, but different levels of gentility are also represented.
Of the 21 identified owners, eight were scholars, four were clerics, three were women, two were Members of Parliament, and the last four were levels of nobility -- a statesman, a diplomat, a court official, and a landowner. As this work focuses on history moreso than theology, this may explain the shift in ownership.