Lot 161
Buchanan, George
Rerum Scoticarum Historia
Auction: 16 June 2026 from 10:00 BST
Description
Edimburgi [Edinburgh]: apud Alexandrum Arbuthnetum, 1582. First edition, folio, 18th-century sprinkled calf, gilt spine with raised bands, complete with final errata leaf, joints cracking, head and tail of spine worn with head and tail bands coming loose and split, corner tips worn, occasional light dampstaining but otherwise internally good [ESTC S107152; STC (2nd ed.), 3991]
Footnote
Buchanan's final and most substantial work, a history of Scotland noted for advocating limits on royal power and bearing the stylistic markers of Renaissance Humanism, with Tacitus identified as likely influence. ‘[Buchanan] stated that the source of power was the people, that the king must accept limitations upon the authority committed to him, and that it was lawful to resist and punish tyrants. For him this was not simply an abstraction, but was borne out by the fortunes of Scotland's early kings' (ODNB). The first edition is notably scarce in commerce.