Historiae Aethiopicae libri decem,
nunquam antea in lucem editi.
Basle: Ex officina Johann Hervagius, 1534 Stock Code: 126325
The first printing of the first novel
Editio princeps of Heliodorus's Aethiopica, a contender for the status of the earliest novel. The only known work of Heliodorus of Emesa, the Aethiopica, written in the third or fourth century CE, remained largely unknown until the sack of Buda in 1526, when Matthias Corvinus's manuscript of the text was seized. Printed eight years later in the present edition, it has remained one of the best known fiction works of the classical era, and underwent many editions and translations by the end of the 16th century. The work is printed in the original Greek, with a Latin dedicatory by the German classical scholar Vincentius Opsopoeus. The present copy has extensive early marginalia in Greek, and the bookplate of the 20th century Italian businessman and book collector Livio Ambrogio. Library Hub lists copies held in eight British institutions.Description
Small quarto (207 x 143 mm). 19th-century quarter sheep, spine lettered in gilt, marbled sides, blue edges.
Illustrations
Woodcut printer's device to title page and final leaf, woodcut initials.
Condition
Covers lightly rubbed, spine repaired at head, tiny chip to corner of A3 not affecting text. A very nice copy, with contents bright and clean.
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