In Latin, with decorative initials. “Plutarchus de Claris Mulieribus. Plutarchi Paralelia (“On the Virtues of Women” [with] “Parallel Lives”) was written by Greek biographer and essayist Plutarch. This volume was translated by Alamanus Rinutinus and published in Brescia by Boninus de Boninis in 1485. “Claris Mulieribus” is a section from Plutarch’s “Moralia” (“Morals”), which is a collection of 78 essays and speeches. It was first published around 100 CE and provides valuable insight into Roman and Greek life. This section looks at the virtues of women and discusses noble deeds done by women in times of danger and trouble.

This volume also contains “Paralelia,” written in the early second century CE by Plutarch. It is a series of biographies of famous men. Today only 23 pairs of biographies survive each comprising of one Greek, one Roman, and four unpaired single lives. The work is extremely important as a source concerning the individuals and the times in which they lived. Plutarch’s works influenced a great number of English and French writers including William Shakespeare, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Michel de Montaigne, James Boswell, Francis Bacon, and John Milton.