MARTIAL.

[Epigrammata] Cum duobus comentis.

      Milan, Johannem Scinzenzeler 1505. 1505. Folio, ff. 158 (i) lacking final blank. Roman letter in two sizes, white on black woodcut initials. Pretty De Lignano woodcut on t-p (they commissioned the work), ms. 'Emptus a F.Carolo 1592' above, couple of slightly later conventual ex libris. Early marginalia to first couple of gatherings, a splendid copy, completely clean, almost uncut and unpressed in strictly contemp. Milanese calf, covers with central panel enclosing a border of repeated but separate knot-work tools, middle panel with rosettes, inner wih three large knotwork lozenges, outer undecorated except for blind rules. Small defects at lower edges of boards and head and tail of spine, else a splendid copy in an important unrestored original binding preserved in box. Autograph of Joseph von Lassburg, the C18/19. antiquary and scholar on fly. A very rare edition of the Epigrammata with the commentaries of Calderini and Merula. Martial, certainly a Spaniard and probably a Basque spent his working life in Rome surveying the local scene and producing for us exquisite vignettes of what he saw. His short poems, often expressing a single message or depicting a single picture are among the most vivid glimpses which have come down to us of real life in the first century AD. Perhaps because of allegations of obscenity - but Martial did not invent, he described what he saw - the Epigrammata were relatively neglected in the first century of printing. This edition is of conspicuous rarity; Balsamo, the bibliographer of Schinzenzeler's press, records no copy outside Italian institutional libraries. The classic, simple, yet elegant and well preserved binding is not identified by De Marinis, or Goldschmidt and the style is unusual for folios, more usually found on smaller books. Altogether a very splendid volume. Not in BM. STC It, NUC or Adams. Balsamo 48 "Bella edizione". SN2527.