Horace's Opera
Horace's Opera
Johann Grüninger, 1498
HORATIUS FLACCUS, Quintus (65-8 BCE). Opera. Commentary by Nicolaus Perottus. Edited by Jacobus Locher. Strasbourg: Johann Reinhard Grüninger, 12 March 1498.
First illustrated edition of the works of Horace, and the first printed in Germany, with ingenious and delightful woodcuts by the Master of the Grüninger Terence. Horace was the iconic poet of the Augustan age, whose enduring influence has been felt over two millennia of lyric poetry. Grüninger was a trailblazer in the field of illustrated books and a creator of works with great visual appeal; here he illustrates each poem with a composite woodcut, each image made up of different parts which are remixed and reused throughout the book (and indeed, Grüninger’s other publications). The book also features a striking woodcut of the poet himself, wreathed in myrtle. The text was newly edited from German manuscripts unavailable to earlier publishers by Jacobus Locher, and is here accompanied by the learned commentary of Nicolaus Perottus. HC 8898*; GW 13468; BMC I 112; BSB-Ink H-370; Bod-inc H-214; Schr 4240; Goff H-461; ISTC ih00461000.
Chancery folio (298 x 200mm). 219 leaves (of 220, without blank LL8). Many woodcuts, some repeats (repaired closed tear to title, some toning and spotting, occasional worming throughout, largely marginal except for first few leaves). Modern red morocco. Provenance: marginalia (some trimmed) – François-Xavier Borluut de Noortdonck (1771-1857; armorial bookplate; his sale, Ghent, 19 April 1838, lot 1306) – J. Eliot Hodgkin (1829-1912, English engineer and antiquarian; bookplate and book label; sold Sotheby’s London, 15 May 1914, lot 737) – Charles Loomis Dana (1852-1935, American physician and Horatiana collector; bookplate) – acquired from Lathrop C. Harper, Inc, New York, 26 February 1959.
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Horace's Opera
Johann Grüninger, 1498
HORATIUS FLACCUS, Quintus (65-8 BCE). Opera. Commentary by Nicolaus Perottus. Edited by Jacobus Locher. Strasbourg: Johann Reinhard Grüninger, 12 March 1498.
First illustrated edition of the works of Horace, and the first printed in Germany, with ingenious and delightful woodcuts by the Master of the Grüninger Terence. Horace was the iconic poet of the Augustan age, whose enduring influence has been felt over two millennia of lyric poetry. Grüninger was a trailblazer in the field of illustrated books and a creator of works with great visual appeal; here he illustrates each poem with a composite woodcut, each image made up of different parts which are remixed and reused throughout the book (and indeed, Grüninger’s other publications). The book also features a striking woodcut of the poet himself, wreathed in myrtle. The text was newly edited from German manuscripts unavailable to earlier publishers by Jacobus Locher, and is here accompanied by the learned commentary of Nicolaus Perottus. HC 8898*; GW 13468; BMC I 112; BSB-Ink H-370; Bod-inc H-214; Schr 4240; Goff H-461; ISTC ih00461000.
Chancery folio (298 x 200mm). 219 leaves (of 220, without blank LL8). Many woodcuts, some repeats (repaired closed tear to title, some toning and spotting, occasional worming throughout, largely marginal except for first few leaves). Modern red morocco. Provenance: marginalia (some trimmed) – François-Xavier Borluut de Noortdonck (1771-1857; armorial bookplate; his sale, Ghent, 19 April 1838, lot 1306) – J. Eliot Hodgkin (1829-1912, English engineer and antiquarian; bookplate and book label; sold Sotheby’s London, 15 May 1914, lot 737) – Charles Loomis Dana (1852-1935, American physician and Horatiana collector; bookplate) – acquired from Lathrop C. Harper, Inc, New York, 26 February 1959.
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