ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΥ ΠΑΧΥΜΕΡΗ- Pachymeres Georgius: ΣΥΓΓΡΑΦΙΚΑΙ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΙ Michael & Andronicus Palaeologus sive historia rerum... ROMA Barberini 1666-1669 EDITIO PRINCEPS, IMPERIAL FOLIO, contemporary full leather, a nice and solid binding, upper joint of volume two with few wear, complete in two massive volumes 620p.,632p.,Greek original text and Latin translation in parallel, half-titles, engraved title-vignettes, head- & tail-pieces,, old ink ownership inscriptions to titles (partly crossed out), occasional very light browning or soiling in few pages, text clean and bright,, some light marginal water-staining in few pages of the second volume, large engraved armorial bookplate of Nicolai Joseph Foucault. Pachymeris history is one of the most reliable sources for the 13th and 14th centuries with detailed accounts of the reigns of the Byzantine emperors Michael VIII and Andronicus II Palaeologus. He was an eyewitness of the events following the recovery of Constantinople by the Byzantines and documents the loss of Byzantine Asia Minor to the Turks and almost a unique source for the very early rise of the Ottomans.Nicolas-Joseph Foucault, 1st Marquis de Magny (1643-1721), ex owner of this copy, was a statesman and book-collector. It was edited by Pierre Poussines, a French Jesuit scholar, who was invited to Rome specifically to work on the great Byzantine manuscripts held in the Vatican and the Barberini libraries. Because it was printed in Rome under the patronage of the Barberini family, the production quality is extraordinary. It features the characteristic Roman style: massive folio size, heavy paper, and many grand engravings. A very rare work