Ovidius Naso, Le trasformationi, Venice, 1553, contemporary Venetian brown morocco gilt, the Roxburghe–Heber–Ashburnham–Vershbow copy
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
OVIDIUS NASO, PUBLIUS. Le trasformationi di m. Lodovico Dolce, di nuovo ristampate e da lui ricorrette & in diversi luoghi ampliate. Con la tavola delle favole. Venice: Gabriele Giolito de Ferrari & Brothers, 1553
THE ROXBURGHE–HEBER–ASHBURNHAM–VERSHBOW COPY of the second 1553 Giolito edition of Dolce's complete translation of the Metamorphoses, composed in ottava rima. This edition contains a letter of praise addressed to Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle and is notable for a fine series of woodcut illustrations, among them a world map featuring America ("Nueva Hispania"). In addition to this copy's distinguished nineteenth- and twentieth-century provenance, it features an intriguing pair of initials on the covers, suggesting that it was bound for presentation as a gift to its first owner.
4to (224 x 158 mm). Italic type, 40 lines plus headline. collation: *8 A-T8 V-X4: 176 leaves. Title-page with architectural woodcut border and Giolito's phoenix device, woodcut world map and 94 woodcut illustrations (including 7 repeats), woodcut ornamental sidepieces and initials. (First gathering loose, some marginal dampstaining and soiling.)
binding: Contemporary brown morocco (231 x 164 mm), possibly Venetian, two concentric frames formed by single gilt fillet flanked by multiple blind fillets, gilt fleuron at outer edges of inner frame, smaller gilt acorn cornerpieces at inner angles, in centre, arabesque tête-bêche, and above and below this "*C* *G*" and "*G* *C*", traces of 4 pairs of fabric ties, spine with 3 full bands, gilt rosette in compartments, edges gilt and gauffered with double row of dots around sides. (Wear to spine, with minor loss at head, a few marks to boards.)
provenance: Initials of first owner, or those of giver and recipient of gift ("C.G./G.C.") on covers—seventeenth- or eighteenth-century ownership inscription of "Alberto Pellana" to front endleaf—John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe, sale Robert Harding Evans, 2 June 1812, lot 3021, with manuscript note on front free endpaper ("Roxburghe sale... £1.15.0")—Richard Heber (1773-1833), voracious English bibliophile, with pencil inscription ("M. Heber's") on front free endpaper, his sale, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 11 April 1836, lot 1042, 10s/6d to Joseph Lilly—Payne and Foss, catalogue 1840, item 3913 (£1/11s/6d), with pencil note on front pastedown—Bertram, 4th Earl of Ashburnham (1797-1878), with Ashburnham Library shelfmark "1.C." in red ink, sale, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 25 June-3 July 1897, lot 1408, to Quaritch—Colonel W.E. Moss (1875-1953), sale, Sotheby's, 2 March 1937, lot 626, to—Arthur Maurice Woodward (1883- 1973), sale, Sotheby's, 18 July 1960, lot 313, £35 to Alan G. Thomas—acquired from Alan G. Thomas in 1960 by Arthur Vershbow (1922-2012), with "Arthur and Charlotte Vershbow" bookplate, their sale, Christie's New York, 10 April 2013, lot 271. acquisition: Purchased at the preceding sale. references: Mortimer Italian 342; USTC 845803; Edit16 CNCE 54429; Adams, O-508; Brunet II: 789; Shirley 95
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