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Books, Autographs & Prints

Thursday 04 July 2024 e Friday 05 July 2024, 10:30 AM • Rome

207

Virgilio, Publio Marone

Opera, 1502

Estimate

€ 2.000 - 2.200

Sold

€ 15.210

The price includes buyer's premium

Information

Strasbourg, Gruninger, 1502. In 2nd, 294 x 204 mm. Edition edited by Sebastian Brant. Title printed in red and black, 214 large woodcut illustrations including the woodcut of the title and a double-page illustration, historiated woodcut initials, printer's mark on the colophon, some colored illustrations, restorations on the first leaf without losses, other restorations in the margin bottom of some leaves, reddening, small holes, binding in full sixteenth-century rigid parchment. 

Specialist Notes

First illustrated edition of Virgil's works. Although the introduction suggests that Brant himself was the designer, it is more likely that the extensive and detailed illustrations were executed under his supervision. These woodcuts, which give a Renaissance touch to a classical text, constitute the model for practically all Virgilian images of the 16th century. The question of whether the illustrations are mistakenly anachronistic or deliberately so remains open; however, given Brant's didactic approach, it seems more likely that the intention was to reach a less educated audience through a more popular form of iconography, perhaps less closely related to the text.