231 - OVID. Epistolae Ovidii cum commento. The works of Publius Ovidius Naso of Sulmona, carefully edited and contained herein ...

OVID. Epistolae Ovidii cum commento. The works of Publius Ovidius Naso of Sulmona, carefully edited and contained herein ... A rare Lyon edition of Ovid’s *Heroides*, illustrated with 22 woodcuts. This superb collaborative edition brings together the interrelated commentaries of the most eminent humanists of the Italian Renaissance. Luguduni [Lyon], Anthonius du Ry, 1518. In-4 (180 x 255 mm) in Bradel style, full ivory-colored vellum-imitation cardboard, smooth spine decorated with the title and date in black. Later binding. CXX and 5 unnumbered folios; title printed in black and red within a beautiful historiated frame featuring a full-length fleur-de-lis; 22 engraved woodcut vignettes and floral initials; a diagram of the world’s winds; and a printer’s mark. In Latin. Rare and faint water stains; one double leaf detached (pp. 20–21); a few restored leaves, including the title page, in the lower margin. A few handwritten annotations in period ink in the margins. This rare Lyon edition, adorned with 22 woodcuts and printed in Gothic type, is distinguished by the remarkable structure of its critical apparatus. The layout forms a true choral edition in which Ovid’s text is enriched by the most erudite philologists of the 15th and 16th centuries. For the Heroides, the work combines the rigor of Antonio Volsco (c. 1440–c. 1510), the clarity of Ubertino Clerico (1405–1500), and the indispensable notes of the humanist printer Josse Bade (1462–1535). For the “Letter of Sappho” and the “Ibis,” the edition draws on the critical work of Domizio Calderini (1446–1478) and that of Giorgio Merula (1430–1494). The collection is complemented by additional annotations from leading figures such as Angelo Poliziano, thus offering an exceptional account of the transmission of ancient texts in the early 16th century. On the title page, a handwritten bookplate in faded ink reads “P. P. Doctrinae Xnae [Christianae] Collegi... ,” indicating that this copy became part of the library of a provincial college run by the Fathers of Christian Doctrine. A lovely copy in remarkably fresh condition throughout.