ΑΙΛΙΑΝΟΥ [Aeliani]: Ποικίλης Ιστορίας Βιβλία ΙΔ [Varie Historiae libri XIIII] and other works. Ρώμη [Roma] 1545 EDITIO PRINCEPS. In 4to (23 × 16 cm). Woodcut device on title page, text entirely in Greek. Complete: title, [2], 111, [14] pp. Bound in 19th-century full leather, in very good condition. Text clean and bright, with scattered early pen underlining toward the end of the volume and a few marginal annotations. All final leaves present, including the blank, with the device and colophon correctly placed on the penultimate leaf. Overall, a very good copy. First edition of the original Greek text of the third-century historian Aelian, who compiled an extensive miscellany drawn from Greek writers and philosophers. Much of the work consists of excerpts and anecdotes, many of which preserve events and traditions not otherwise attested, derived from authors such as Alexander of Myndos and Pamphilus, whose works are now lost. The text of Aelianus is followed by several shorter Greek pieces, which, according to Dibdin, were not reprinted and are all editiones principes: Heracleides on constitutions, a treatise on physiognomy by Polemon of Laodicea, and another on the same subject by Adamantius. Printed by Antonio Balbo, the two woodcut devices of ΑΓΑΘΟΣ ΔΑΙΜΩΝ (Agathodaimon) are masterpieces of Renaissance art and landmarks in the history of early Greek printing. References: Adams A221; Dibdin I, p. 229.