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Tag Archives: Rome

Medieval Latin Hymn Fragment: “And whatever with bonds you shall have bound upon earth will be bound strongly in heaven.”

22 Friday Feb 2019

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Antioch, antiphonal, Basilica of Saint Peter, Bernini, Cathedra Petrii, Chair of Saint Peter, Charles the Bold, divine, doxology, Elizabeth Peterson, First Vespers, France, heaven, Holy Spirit, hymn, Italy, James T Svendsen, Jesus, keys, Latin, liturgy, Matt. 16, New Testament, parchment, Peter, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope John VIII, relic, Roman Emperor, Rome, The University of Utah, Trinity, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Vatican


Quodcumque
vinclis super ter-
ram strinxeris,
erit in astris reli-
gatum fortiter.

And whatever with bonds
you shall have bound upon earth
will be bound strongly in heaven.


Et quod resolvis in
terris arbitrio, e-
rit solutum super radium. In fi-
ne mundi iudex

And what you unbind/loosen on earth
will be loosened upon in heaven
on your authority. At the end of
the world you will be judge


Gloria patri
per immensa se-
cula. Sit tibi na-
te decus et impe-

Glory be to the Father through all eternity
and to you, O Son, let there be grace
and domin(ion)…


(impe)rium, honor, po-
testas Sanctoque
Spiritui sit Tri-
nitati salus indi-
vidua per infini(ta seculorum secula. Amen)

(domin)ion, power and honor
to the Holy Spirit. And let there
be to the Trinity well-being undivided forever (and ever. Amen)

This is the hymn sung at First Vespers on the Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter at Rome and Antioch and is celebrated variously but usually on February 22nd. The first passage reflects an event in the New Testament where Peter professes his faith and Jesus promises him the keys to the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 16, 19). Peter has the keys to the only gate at the entrance of heaven and the power to open or close the gate to those who would enter. The second passage is the “Gloria” and a common hymn sung on various occasions in the divine liturgy on a variety of feast days. It is called a doxology, a short hymn of praise for the Holy Trinity. The Chair of Saint Peter is a relic preserved in the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican in Rome. It is called “Cathedra Petrii.” “Cathedra” the Latin word for “chair” or “throne” and refers to the chair or seat of the bishop of Rome. The wooden throne was a gift of the Roman Emperor Charles the Bold to Pope John VIII in 875. It is enclosed in a bronze gift casing by Bernini in the 17th century. In 2018 Pope Benedict XVI described the chair as a “symbol of the special mission of Peter and his Succession to tend God’s flock, keeping it unified in faith and charity.”

~Transcription, translation, and commentary by James T. Svendsen, associate professor emeritus, World Languages and Cultures, The University of Utah

MS chant frag. 8 — Parchment leaves from an Antiphonal, 16th c Italy/S. France. from the Feast of the Chair or St. Peter (18 Jan), First Vespers.

~Description by Elizabeth Peterson, associate professor, Dept. of Art & Art History, The University of Utah, from Paging Through Medieval Lives, a catalog for an exhibition held November 2, 1997 through January 4, 1998 at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

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Medieval Latin Hymn Fragment: “Her mother ordered the dancing girl…”

29 Wednesday Aug 2018

Posted by rarebooks in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

antiphonal, Basilica of San Silvestro, Capite, Christ, Elizabeth Peterson, Flavius Josephus, France, Gospel of Saint Mark, Herod, Herodias, hymn, Italy, James T Svendsen, Jewish, John, John the Baptist, Latin, lauds, medieval, parchment, Philip, Pontius Pilate, Pope Benedict XVI, prodromos, psalm, relic, Rome, Salome, Samaria, The University of Utah, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Vespers


Puell(a)e saltanti im-
peravit mater nihil
allud petas nisl caput
loa(n)nes PS. Beatus vir (qui timet Dominum)
Arguebat ero-
dem Ioannes prop-

Her mother ordered the dancing girl
that you (she) seek nothing other than
the head of John Psalm. Blessed is the man (who fears the Lord)
John kept censuring Herod


(prop)ter Herodia(m) de qua(m)
tulerat fratri suo
Philippo uxorem Ps.
L(auda)te pu(eri Dominum)…Da mihi in
disco caput Ioannes
Baptist(a)e et contristas(tus est rex)…

because of Herodias the wife
of his brother Philip whom he had married.
Psalm. You servants, Praise the Lord…Give me on a dish
the head of John the Baptist; and the king was saddened…

The hymns of this fragment relate the story of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist and are sung at vespers and lauds on August 29th. The story in its entirety is told in the Gospel of Saint Mark (6, 14-29). In these two passages Mark focuses on the machinations of Herodias, Herod’s wife, with her daughter Salome and king Herod’s contrition after the fact. The passage also mentions the reason why Herodias was so angry with John, the fact that John was censuring Herod for marrying his brother Phillip’s wife. Note that Herod’s infamous step-daughter Salome is not named in Mark’s narrative. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, however, does name her as Salome. He also states that the real reason that Herod killed John was “lest the great influence John had over the people might put it into his head to raise a rebellion” (Antiquities of the Jews) One of John’s frequent epithets is prodromos, translated as “the forerunner,” and some see him as a forerunner of Christ put to death at the hands of Pontius Pilate. Others see in the story the conflict between earthly power (Herod), revenge (Herodias), carnality (Salome) with spirituality and asceticism (John the Baptist). On August 29, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI mentioned the dedication of a crypt in Samaria where the head of Saint John the Baptist had been commemorated for centuries. He also mentioned the transfer of the relic to the Basilica of San Silvestro in Capite in Rome.

~Transcription, translation, and commentary by James T. Svendsen, associate professor emeritus, World Languages and Cultures, The University of Utah

MS chant frag. 7 — Parchment leaf from an Antiphonal, 16th c Italy/S. France.

~Description by Elizabeth Peterson, associate professor, Dept. of Art & Art History, The University of Utah, from Paging Through Medieval Lives, a catalog for an exhibition held November 2, 1997 through January 4, 1998 at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.

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Book of the Week — Bashārat Yasuʻ al-Masīḥ kamā kataba Mār Mattay waḥid min ithnay ‘ashar min talāmīdhihi

19 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week

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Accademia del Disgno, Aleppo, Alessio dra Saggeto, Antonio Tempesta, Antonius Sionita, arabesque, Arabic, Armenian, Bashārat Yasuʻ al-Masīḥ, bi-lingual, Book of Hours, borders, Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, Christian, College of Sapienza, colophon, Eastern Orthodox Church, Europe, European, Flemish, Florence, font, French, frescoes, gilt, Giorgio Vasari, Giovanni Battista Raimondi, Gospels, Hebrew, Hungarian, Ibrahim Muteferrika, illustrations, Islam, Islamic, Istanbul, Joannes Stradanus, Latin, Leonardo Parasole, mathematics, Matthew, Medici, military, Mohamedan, morocco, movable type, Muslim, Near East, Orientalist, Ottomon Empire, Palazzo Vecchio, peace, Persian, political, Pope Gregory XIII, printing, religious, Robert Granjon, Romae, Roman Catholic Church, Roman type, Rome, Santi di Tito, science, scripture, sprinkled calf, stamps, Sultan Ahmed III, sword, Syrian, translation, typographer, Typographia Medicea, Vatican, Villa Farnese, Waqf, woodcuts

BS315-A66-1591-title
“Ne arbitremini quod ego uenetim ut mitterem super terram pacem; non ueni ut mitterem pacem, sed gladium (“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.)” — Matthew 10:34

Bashārat Yasuʻ al-Masīḥ kamā kataba Mār Mattay waḥid min ithnay ‘ashar min talāmīdhihi
Romae: in Typographia Medicea, MDXCI
Edicio princeps
BS315 A66 1591

Bashārat Yasuʻ al-Masīḥ, the first printed edition of the Gospels in Arabic, is the first production by the Typographia Medicea press, a printing house established by Pope Gregory XIII and Cardinal Ferdinando de’ Medici in order to promote and distribute Christian scripture to the Near East. Two issues of this work were printed, apparently simultaneously. One had Arabic-only text and was printed in an edition of 4,000 copies. The other, here, was printed in Arabic with interlinear Latin, in an edition of 3,000 copies. The Arabic-only edition has the date 1590 on the title-page, but 1591 in the colophon. Allegedly, a few of the bi-lingual copies were published with a preliminary leaf stating, “Sanctum Dei evangelium arab.-lat.” No known copies of this half-title are known to exist and this leaf may never have existed.

With a Latin translation ascribed to one Antonius Sionita, the book was edited by Giovanni Battista Raimondi (1540-ca. 1614), an esteemed Orientalist and professor of mathematics at the College of Sapienza in Rome. Raimondi travelled extensively in the Near East and was knowledgeable, if not fluent, in Arabic, Armenian, Syrian and Hebrew. His fame rests with the editorship of the Typographica Medicea. He and French typographer Robert Granjon, who created the Arabic font used in this work, were both recognized then and now for the earliest and best attempts to print Arabic in Europe.

Illustrated with 149 woodcuts, printed from 68 blocks, engraved by Leonardo Parasole (ca. 1587-ca. 1630). The artist, Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630), studied under Santi di Tito and Flemish artist Joannes Stradanus at the Accademia del Disgno. Tempesta later worked with Stradanus and Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) on the interior decoration of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Tempesta then travelled to Rome, where he fulfilled several commissions, including frescoes for Pope Gregory XIII in the Vatican and panel paintings for the Villa Farnese. Many of the woodcuts are signed with the initials “AT” (Antonio Tempesta) and “LP” (Leonardo Parasole). The illustrations in Bashārat Yasuʻ al-Masīḥ are excellent examples of Tempesta’s work, noteworthy for their clear composition and narrative of the episodes depicted.

Be that as it may, the illustrations may have played a part in the failure of this book to reach, let alone convince, its intended Islamic audience. Islam forbade religious illustration and these may have made the Gospels appear less than sacred, if not sacrilegious, to Arab Muslim readers.

To be fair, the Christian church had a long tradition of presenting their message with religious illustrations. As far back as the sixth century, Pope Gregory defended the value of such imagery, arguing that pictures were useful for teaching the faith to the unconverted and for conveying sacred stories to the illiterate. According to Bede, St. Augustine introduced Christianity to the heathen King Ethelbert of Kent, upon landing on the British Isles, by presenting a picture of Christ painted on a wooden panel. He then began to preach.

The Pope seems also to have denied the fact that more Christians lived in the Ottoman Empire than in any other European state. The first printed book in Arabic was a Book of Hours, probably intended for export to Syrian Christians. But these Christians were adherents to the Eastern Orthodox Church, not the Pope’s Roman Catholic Church. Christianity was hardly unknown in the predominantly Muslim Ottoman and Persian Empires. The Ottomans were, however, Christian Europe’s major military and political concern.

In addition to printing the Gospels in Arabic, Ferdinando de’ Medici charged Raimondi with printing “all available Arabic books on permissable human science which had no religious content in order to introduce the art of printing to the Mohamedan community.” Despite the superb quality — textually, typographically, and artistically — of its work, the Medici press was an economic failure and went bankrupt in 1610. The fact is that Raimondi displayed little understanding of Islamic culture. Although Raimondi’s selection of publications was not aimed at European scholars, his choices stimulated a study of the Near East in Europe.

It would be more than a century after the Medici Press closed that Ibrahim Muteferrika, a Hungarian convert to Islam, was given permission by Sultan Ahmed III (1673-1736) to open his printing house in Istanbul, in 1729. This was not the first printing press established in the Near East, but it was the first Eastern press to print in Arabic using movable type.

Arabic and small roman type text within double-ruled borders. Colophon and printer’s note to reader in Latin. Colophon decorated with large woodcut arabesque.

Rare Books copy bound in full, eighteenth century, sprinkled calf, with a gilt spine containing two burgundy morocco labels, and decorative gilt borders on the covers. The first leaf is shaved and reinserted on contemporary paper. This leaf contains four Waqf stamps, indicating the authentication of the Arabic translation. As in most copies, our copy lacks a title page. A former owner’s penciled inscription, “Alessio Dra Saggeto/en Aleppo 1871,” is on the free front end paper. Another signature, in ink, is at the top of the back free end paper.

For more on the woodcuts, see Field, Richard S. Antonio Tempesta’s Blocks and Woodcuts for the Medicean 1591 Arabic Gospels, NE662 T45 F54 2001, in the rare book collections.

BS315-A66-1591-colophon

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“The times returne” — Happy New Year!

01 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by rarebooks in Uncategorized

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Apuleius, Athens, Filippo Giunta, Florence, Florentine, Giunta, Greek, Latin, lily, London, Lucius Apuleius, Lyons, Marsilio Ficino, novel, Pannartz, Philippi de Giunta, philosophy, Platonist, press, printers, publishers, Rome, Salamanca, scholars, Sweynheym, The Golden Ass, The University of Utah, vellum, Venice

PA6207-M3-1512-titlePA6207-M3-1512-spreadPA6207-M3-1512-iii

QUAE PRAESENTI ENCHIRIDIO CONTINEANTUR…
Lucius Apuleius (ca. 124-170)
Florence: Philippi de Giunta, February, 1512
PA6207 M2 1512

“O holy and blessed dame, the perpetuall comfort of humane kind, who by thy bounty and grace nourishest all the world, and hearest a great affection to the adversities of the miserable, as a loving mother thou takest no rest, neither art thou idle at any time in giving thy benefits, and succoring all men, as well on land as sea; thou art she that puttest away all stormes and dangers from mans life by thy right hand, whereby likewise thou restrainest the fatall dispositions, appeasest the great tempests of fortune and keepest backe the course of the stars: the gods supernall doe honour thee: the gods infernall have thee in reverence: thou environest all the world, thou givest light to the Sunne, thou governest the world, thou treadest downe the power of hell: By thy meane the times returne, the Planets rejoyce, the Elements serve: at thy commandment the winds do blow, the clouds increase, the seeds prosper, and the fruits prevaile, the birds of the aire, the beasts of the hill, the serpents of the den, and the fishes of the sea, do tremble at thy majesty, but my spirit is not able to give thee sufficient praise, my patrimonie is unable to satisfie thy sacrifice, my voice hath no power to utter that which I thinke, no if I had a thousand mouths and so many tongues: Howbeit as a good religious person, and according to my estate, I will alwaies keepe thee in remembrance and close thee within my breast.”

This is the first edition of the Giunta printing of Apuleius, the second edition after the editio princips printed by Sweynheym and Pannartz. Apuleius studied Platonist philosophy at Athens and is best known for his bawdy picaresque novel, The Golden Ass, the only ancient Latin novel known to have survived in its entirety. This edition contains that novel, and several other works, including “Floridorum Libri Qutuor,” De Philosophia item Liber Unicus,” “Aesclepius,” (edited by Marsilio Ficino), “Orationes Duae pro se Ipso,” and “Cosmographia, Sive De Mundo.” This is one of the earliest editions to contain the Giunta printer’s mark, a lily. The Giunta was a Florentine family of printers and publishers who worked out of Venice and Florence until the middle of the 16th century. Filippo Giunta (1450-1517) established the press, working closely with several scholars to issue Greek and Latin classics. The press had branches in London, Lyons, Rome, and Salamanca. Filippo was succeeded by his son Bernard. University of Utah copy bound in contemporary stiff vellum with spine ruling and lettering in black, edges stained blue.

alluNeedSingleLine

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We recommend – Fantasies & Hard Knocks

29 Friday May 2015

Posted by rarebooks in Recommended Reading

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Alabama, Anthony Burgess, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Biblioteca di via Senato, Book Arts Program at the University of Alabama, Brendan Gill, C. F. Cavafy, Cottondale, Dana Gioia, Ecuador, Ex Ophidia, Ex Ophidia Press, Fantasies & Hard Knocks, fine press, Fulvio Testa, handpress, Italo Calvino, Italy, J. Willard Marriott Library, Jack Spicer, John Cheever, Jorge Luis Borges, Milan, New York, Oregon, Paul Zweig, Plain Wrapper Press, Port Townsend, printers, Quito, R. B. Kitaj, rare books, Richard-Gabriel Rummonds, Rome, San Francisco, Special Collections, University of Utah, Verona

 




FANTASIES & HARD KNOCKS: MY LIFE AS A PRINTER
Richard-Gabriel Rummonds (b.1931)
Port Townsend, OR: Ex Ophidia Press, 2015

Richard-Gabriel Rummonds is recognized as one of the world’s pre-eminent handpress printers of the late twentieth century. For nearly twenty-five years, using the imprints of Plain Wrapper Press and Ex Ophidia, he printed and published illustrated limited editions of contemporary literature on iron handpresses, primarily in Verona, Italy and Cottondale, Alabama. Rummonds’ work has been exhibited in Rome, New York, and San Francisco. In 1999, a retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Biblioteca di via Senato in Milan, Italy. His books are held in museums, libraries and private collections worldwide.

Rummonds was appointed founding director of the MFA in the Book Arts Program at the University of Alabama in 1984. He has taught workshops around the world, including the University of Utah.

Fantasies & Hard Knocks, “embellished with over 450 images [most in color] and 65 recipes,” is a candid autobiography chronicling the printing and publishing of Rummonds’ pieces issued with Plain Wrapper Press and Ex Ophidia imprints.

In 1966, Rummonds founded Plain Wrapper Press in Quito, Ecuador, moving it to Verona, Italy in 1970, where he mastered his craft on nineteenth-century handpresses and established a worldwide reputation for excellent fine press productions. In 1982, Rummonds established Ex Ophidia in Cottondale, Alabama.

pg568-569spread

His memoir is filled with deeply personal anecdotes of working closely with many of the most acclaimed and renowned authors and artists of the time, including Jorge Luis Borges, Anthony Burgess, Italo Calvino, C. F. Cavafy, John Cheever, Brendan Gill, Dana Gioia, Jack Spicer, Paul Zweig, Arnaldo Pomodoro, Fulvio Testa, R. B. Kitaj and others.

pg746-747spread

Rare Books, Special Collections, J. Willard Marriott Library holds a significant archive of the works, library, and ephemera of Richard-Gabriel Rummonds.

alluNeedSingleLine

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A Donation Makes Poly Poly’s

26 Wednesday Nov 2014

Posted by rarebooks in Donations

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

agriculture, alphabet, Amsterdam, anatomy, Antonio Blado, Antwerp, architecture, astrology, astronomy, Barbara Chavira, Basel, Bible, Bonaventura Elzevir, bookbinders, booksellers, celibacy, censored, Christianity, Christopher Plantin, commerce, creation, Daniel Elzevir, Elizabeth Isengrin, England, English, engraved, Ethiopian Church, Europe, expurgated, fable, festivals, French, frontispiece, German, God, Greek, Hebrew, heresy, hunting, Index of Forbidden Books, indulgences, initials, Italian, italic, Judaism, King Arthur, Latin, law, Leonhart Fuchs, libraries, Louis Elzevir, Lucovico Arrighi, Lyons, magic, Martin Luther, mathematics, medicine, Michael Isengrin, minerology, monks, music, navigation, paganism, painting, pharmacology, physics, Polydore Vergil, Pope Gregory XIII, priest, printer, printing, Protestant, Rare Books Division, Reformation, religion, Roman, Roman Catholic Church, Rome, Salt Lake City Public Library, Shakespeare, Spanish, sports, theater, Thomas Guarin, Tournai, trade, typography, Utrecht, vellum, vignettes, weaponry, winemaking, writing

The Salt Lake City Public Library donated a sixteenth century book to the Rare Books Division, thanks to the well-trained eye of City Library staffer Barbara Chavira. Barbara worked part-time in the Rare Books Division for many years. Her passion for the art of books, in all forms and over the centuries, brought us this important and welcome addition to the rare book collections. Thank you, Barbara ! Thank you, City Library !

PA8585-V4-D4-1576-a4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POLYDORI VIRGILII VRBINATIS DE RERVM INVENTORIBVS…
Romae, apud haeredes antonij, Bladij, Impressores Camerales: Anno. M.D. LXXVI (1576)

Polydore Vergil (ca. 1470-1555), an Italian priest, spent much of his life in England. He is recognized for his history of England, a work that Shakespeare is known to have used as one of his sources. Vergil used critical analysis in his narration of historical events. His thesis that King Arthur was little more than fable, for instance, shocked contemporary readers.

It is his second published work, however, for which he was best known in his time. First printed in 1499, De rerum inventoribus (On Discovery), was a work unlike anything that had been published before. An inventory of historical “firsts,” it combined a wide array of subjects in an attempt to determine which individual or culture first invented things such as the alphabet, astronomy, magic, printing, libraries, hunting, festivals, writing, painting, weaponry and religion. Vergil culled much of his work from a wide range of ancient and contemporary writers. He focused on the genius of man in the origin or invention of all things – heretical thinking at the time.

In Book I he investigated the creation of the world, the origin of religion, the origin of the concepts of “god” and the word “God.” He suggested that much of Christianity had been adapted from Judaism or Roman paganism. Books II and III were studies of a wide-range of topics, mostly concerning the practical and mechanical arts including anatomy, astrology, law, medicine, commerce, mathematics, mineralogy, music, pharmacology, physics, trade, agriculture, architecture, sports, theater, navigation, and winemaking. The work was translated into French in 1521, German in 1537, English in 1546, and Spanish in 1551.

In 1521, more than two decades after he wrote the first three books, and at the dawn of Martin Luther’s protestant reformation, Vergil added five more books concentrating on Christianity. Vergil reworked his discussion of Christianity in deference to the Roman Catholic Church, which objected to Vergil’s reference to religion as a matter of scientific investigation. In spite of this concession, Vergil anticipated the scientific approach to religion that would become the norm a century later. The intended salve to the church failed when Vergil criticized monks, priestly celibacy, and indulgences. In 1564 the work was declared heretical and all editions were added to the Index of Forbidden Books. However, the work was so popular that two censored editions were printed after the ban.

This 1576 expurgated edition was sanctioned by Pope Gregory XIII in its front matter.

PA8585-V4-D4-1576-a2

PA8585-V4-D4-1570-CaGlorius

It is significant that this edition was printed by the heirs of Antonio Blado’s shop.

PA8585-V4-D4-1576-titlepage

PA8585-V4-D4-1576-regestvm

Blado worked in Rome from 1515 to 1567 as a printer in the service of the papacy. He was well-known for his scholarly works in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; and a 1549 document in Ethiopic type for the Ethiopian Church. Blado is also known for his use of an early italic type created by Ludovico Arrighi. The Rare Books Division holds five books printed by Antonio Blado.

This 1576 edition of Vergil joins an edition from 1570 and another from 1671, already in the rare book collections.

PA8585-V4-D4-1570-titlepagePA8585-V4-D4-1570-colophon

POLYDORI VERGILII VRBINATIS, DE RERUM INVENTORIBUS…
Polydore Vergil (1470? – 1555)
Basilea: 1570

Printer Thomas Guarin (1529-1592) was born in Tournai. He worked in Lyons as a bookseller, but by 1557 was in Basel, where he married Elizabeth Isengrin, the daughter of a printer. Guarin took over his father-in-law’s small press at Michael Isengrin’s death. Michael Isengrin had printed one of the many editions of De rerum inventoribus to be published in Vergil’s lifetime. Each of these editions contained significant variations. Isengrin printed Leonhart Fuchs’s sumptuous De Historia stirpivm. Along with the reprint of classical works, Guarin issued several editions of the Bible, published in both Latin and German, and one in Spanish. His printer’s device was a palm tree.

PA8585-V4-D4-1570-printersdevice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PA8585-V4-D4-1671-frontispiece

POLYDORI VERGILII URBINATIS, DE INVENTORIBUS RERUM…
Polydore Vergil (1470?-1555)
Amstelodami: apud Danielem Elzebirius, 1671

Daniel Elzevir came from a distinguished family of booksellers, bookbinders, printers and publishers. Louis Elzevir (1546-1617), a Protestant émigré, began the business in Antwerp in about 1565, after he left a job with Christopher Plantin’s print shop. The Elzevir enterprise became one of Europe’s largest printing houses. Louis’s sons expanded the business with branches in The Hague, Utrecht, and Amsterdam. The Amsterdam branch was established in 1638 by Louis III. His partner was Daniel Elzevir, son of Bonaventura Elzevir, son of Louis. Daniel continued the family reputation for fine typography and design work. This edition of De Rerum inventoribus also contains another of Vergil’s works, Prodigiis, written in 1526 but not printed until 1531. The engraved frontispiece for this edition includes the invention of printing as one of its main themes. Numerous carved initials and vignettes. Bound in contemporary vellum.

Shakespeare is coming! The First Folio will arrive at the City Library in October.

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