Priapea, Diuersorum veterum poetarum, Venice, Paolo Manuzio & Heirs of Andrea Torresano, 1534, late nineteenth-century richly gilt vellum in mid-sixteenth-century French style

Priapea. Diuersorum veterum poetarum in Priapum lusus. P.V.M. Catalecta. Copa. Rosae. Culex. Dirae. Moretum. Ciris. Aetna. Elegia in Mecoenatis obitum. Et alia nonnulla, quae falso Virgilii creduntur. Argumenta in Virgilii libros, et alia diuersorum complura. Quae omnia nuper diligentius sunt emendata. Venice: Paolo Manuzio & Heirs of Andrea Torresano, March 1534

A rare Aldine edition of this collection of Priapic verse, including spurious works attributed to Virgil (Catalecta, Copa, Culex, etc.), noted for its blend of literary parody and obscene humor. An early owner was François d’Amboise (1550–1619), the French jurist and writer, known for his translations and association with the French Renaissance literary circles. He is said to have written and published in his youth works entitled “Eglogues amoureuses” and “Amours Comiques” however they appear not to have survived. Another owner has added in manuscript (two-pages) "C. Laberii Mimi Prologus", i.e. the text of the "Prologue" (a satire against Julius Caesar) supposedly written by Decimus Laberius, a writer of mimes (mimus), first printed in editions of Macrobius (Sat. 2.7.3; see Costas Panayotakis, Decimus Laberius: The Fragments (Cambridge 2012), pp. 44-46, 452-454).  

8vo (158 x 99 mm). Italic type, 30 lines plus headline. collation: a-k⁸: 80 leaves. Woodcut Aldine device to title-page and verso of last leaf. (Very light intermittent spotting, a few closed marginal tears.)

binding: Late nineteenth-century richly gilt vellum in mid-sixteenth-century French style (164 x 105 mm), marbled endpapers, edges gilt. (Light soiling.)

provenance: Unidentified owner, few contemporary marginalia — François d'Amboise (1550-1619), seigneur de Vezeul, inscriptions on endleaves — unidentified owner, two-page manuscript "C. Laberii Mimi Prologus" — F. Zisska & R. Kistner, Auktion, Munich, 4 May 1992, lot 970 — H.P. Kraus, New York, Catalogue 195: (New York [1994]), item 204; H.P. Kraus, Catalogue 202: (New York [1996?]), item 207. acquisition: Purchased from H.P. Kraus, New York, 1996. references: UCLA 268; Renouard 110/1; Edit16 27221; USTC 802677