ΚΩΝΣΤΑΝΤΙΝΟΥ ΠΟΡΦΥΡΟΓΕΝΝΗΤΟΥ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΕΣ ΕΚΛΟΓΕΣ, Konstantinos Porhyrogenetus Excerpta Historica Constantiniana. Berolini 1903-10. EDITIO PRINCEPS, first complete edition of all surviving fragments. Large 8vo in 5 VOLUMES: Volume I: De Legationibus (Πρεσβείες Ρωμαίων προς Εθνικούς και πρεσβείες Εθνικών προς Ρωμαίους), 607p.,edited by C.de Boor,1903,Volume II, Pars I: De Virtutibus et Vitiis, 369p., edited by Buttner-Worst, 1906,Volume II, Pars II: De Virtutibus et Vitiis, 416p.,edited by Roos, 1910,Volume III: De Insidiis, 228p. edited by C.de Boor, 1905, Volume IV: De Sententiis, 478p. edited by Boissevin, 1906. All text only in the original Greek. Introduction in Latin. Contemporary leather over boards, declassified stamps of Amsterdam University, overall very good. First edition of all the minor works, (Excerpta) of Konstantinus Porphirogenetus, the rarest of Porphirogenetus works. Although some isolated parts of them, have been published before, this is their first scientific complete edition of all surviving texts, still the only reference for some unique sources of ancient and early Byzantine Greek world, including precious information for many people and countries (in the descriptions of the De Legationibus) or historic events and ancient writings (from many other sources that have not survived intact). This comprehensive work had been prepared in Constantinople in early 10th century and it is a mix of authentic previous historical sources verbatim, still then available that after mostly lost.Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus realized that the vast amount of ancient Greek and Roman history was too much for people to read, so he commissioned a massive encyclopedia of history divided into 53 thematic subjects Most of these 53 volumes were lost, only fragments of a few sections survived in various manuscripts across Europe. This edition is the result of the "De Boor Project." It was edited by a team of elite German philologists, primarily Carl de Boor, Theodor Büttner-Wobst, and P. Boissevain. They organized the surviving fragments of the Emperor's project for the first time using modern scientific methods. It contains fragments of lost ancient historians (like Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, and Dexippus).Unlike other Byzantine works, which were printed because they were more or less complete chronicles, the Excerpta were so fragmented and scattered that it took 300 years of scholarship to find all the pieces in world libraries to put them together. Still the basic reference. Very rare, as a scientific publication which numbered only 300 copies and has been absorbed from Universities and libraries worldwide.