DIODORUS of SICILY. Sept livres des histoires de Diodore sicilien nouvellement traduyts de grec en françoys. In-folio, red morocco decorated in the style of Du Seuil with fleur-de-lys, spine with 6 ribbons decorated with fleur-de-lys, red morocco lining decorated with the same decoration in the style of Du Seuil, edges gilt on marbling (17th century binding). Brunet, II-717 // Cioranescu, 2476. (10f.)-304f. / a6, b4, A-Z6, AA-TT6, vv4, xx-zz6, AAA-EEE6 / 213 x 318 mm. First complete edition combining Jacques Amyot's translation of books XI to XVII of Diodorus' Histories with that of the first three books translated by Macault, all with annotations by Louis Le Roy. A Greek historian who was a contemporary of Caesar, Diodorus Siculus, after spending long periods in Europe and Asia, settled in Rome, where he worked for more than thirty years on a Historical Library consisting of forty books and extending from the earliest times to 60 BC. All that remains today are books I to V and XI to XXII and fragments of the others. The first three deal with the history of Egypt, Assyria and neighbouring countries. Books IV and V contain the heroic period of Greece and research on the islands. Finally, books XI to XVII deal with the history of Greece. This Historical Library covers a period of more than a thousand years and is based on all the datable events that Diodorus of Sicily was able to find in ancient sources. The edition is adorned with beautiful initials set against a background of acanthus leaves, figures and faces. A fine copy in red morocco with 17th century lining. Stains and a small epidermis to the binding. Old handwritten annotations in the margins of a few leaves, browning to a few leaves at the end of the volume.