PERSIUS FLACCUS, AULUS.

SATIRARUM OPUS. VENICE, DIONYSIUS DE BERTOCHIS & PELEGRINUS DE PASCHALIBUS BONONIENSES, 10 SEPTEMBER 1484.

      Sm. folio (292 x 205 mm). Vellum over boards (rebacked). Woodcut printer's device on last leaf (Device A), not rubricated (capital spaces not filled in), printed in Roman type: 110R and 83R. Collation: a-d6, e4; (28) leaves. One of the incunable editions of the satires of Persius with the gloss (commentary) of Bartolomeo della Fonte (Fonzio, or Fontius). According to the BMC, the text is 'reprinted, generally with the same page-contents, from the edition of De Tortis, 14 March, 1482'. Fonzio's dedication to Lorenzo de' Medici of 1477 is included on the verso of the first leaf (recto blank).Bartolomeo Fonzio (1445-1513) was a Florentine humanist whose achievements are on a par with those of Poliziano. Their early friendship later turned into enmity and unremitting polemics. Fonzio's commentary on Persius was first published in 1477 at the Ripoli press (Rhodes 315; Conway, p. 292); its dedication to Lorenzo de' Medici is reprinted here. His purpose was to firmly establish Persius as a satirical poet; it was not his intention to write a full commentary on Persius'work, but rather to give a clear and straightforward interpretation of the text and to free it from its obscurities.Aulus Persius Flaccus (AD 34-62), known generally as Persius, was one of the most famous Latin satirical poets. Born at Volaterrae in Etruria, he belonged to an equestrian family and was a relative of the famous Arria, wife of Paetus. He was educated at Rome, and became the pupil of the Stoic Cornutus, who exercised a strong influence on him; a fellow pupil was the Roman epic poet Lucan. He joined the group of Stoics around Thrasea Paetus, the senator who was married to the younger Arria. He bequeathed his books and a part of his large fortune to Cornutus, who accepted the books but not the money. Persius took no part in public life, died young, and left only a small amount of literary work: six satires (650 hexameter lines) modelled on Lucilius and Horace, and a prologue. Except for the first satire, these poems are homilies rather than satires in the strict sense, preaching an uncompromising Stoic morality as it could be applied to private life, and only incidentally touching on public life. He uses an incongruous mixture of styles and his language is obscure, but his moral sincerity is unforced and scarcely priggish when considered against the background of Nero's Rome.Satire I is a criticism of the poets at Nero's court and the contemporary fashion for elegant, unrealistic poetry, which Persius finds significant of the corruption of Roman virtue and hardihood. Satire 2 is concerned with the right use of prayer, mocking those who ask for external goods rather than virtue. Satire 3 is a diagnosis of the damage done to sick souls by sloth and vice. Satire 4 urges a young statesman (Nero?) to disregard public admiration and pursue virtue by examining his own character. Satire 5 is a eulogy of Cornutus, describing the simple and studious life the poet leads when in the philosopher's company; its subject is the rarity of true freedom-we are all the slaves of our passions or superstitions. Satire 6 is addressed to Caesius Bassus (a lyric poet commended by Quintilian) who edited Persius' satires after his death and is said to have died in the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79; it expounds the wisdom of living comfortably, but not covetously. Good copy with wide margins.- (Quires carefully washed; inner margins of last quire restored, with some marginal water staining). Hain-Copinger 12724; BMC VII, p. 1139; IGI 7499; Goff-346 (only 3 copies); Proctor 4845; IDL 3564 (1 copy in The Hague); IBP 4267; Madsen 3105; Voulieme (B) 4076; Sack (Freiburg) 2731; Oates 1908; BSB-Ink P-247.