Metamorphoses. Ed. Barnabas Celsanus

Vicenza: Hermannus Liechtenstein. 12 August, 1480. An early edition (the first was printed in 1471) of Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’, printed as a companion to the same printer's volume of Ovid's other works, printed in May of the same year. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in contemporary Italian calf over wooden boards, blind-tooled and panelled by intersecting fillets (rebacked, worn, wormholes; clasps and catches missing), bottom edge lettered “Ovidij Metam.”. The paste-downs are almost complete leaves from a printed legal work (see below). An attractive copy with wide margins. Some soiling and light stains. With single clean tears (no loss of paper or text) in the lower margin of lvs. B1, D4, L2, M7, P3, S1. Tiny hole in blank lower margin of leaf K7. Wear to two lines of type on leaf M1. This is the first edition to be edited by Barnabas Celsanus (d. 1502) a local scholar in Vicenza. The edition includes the introductory synopses of Bonus Accursius, which first appeared in 1477.

On 10 May 1480 Liechtenstein had published a volume which included Ovid’s ‘Amores’, ‘De arte amandi’, ‘Tristia’, ‘ex Ponto’, etc. With the printing of the ‘Metamorphoses’ in August, Liechtenstein had printed all of Ovid’s work. Although intended as a unified printing of the Opera, it is common to find the volumes separately; many of those locations listed on ISTC have only one part.

Provenance: The copy (almost certainly) of the Sforza diplomat and councillor Pietro da Gallarate whose ownership inscription appears on the verso of final blank leaf, which reads, “Liber hic est mei Petri de Gallarate filius quondam domini marci de gallarate et cetera”. Gallarate was from a Milanese noble family and was a diplomat under the Sforzas between 1458 and 1495 (see: L. Cerioni, La diplomazia sforzesca, 1970, passim.). In 1477 he became a member of the select consilio segreto ducale constituted by Bona of Savoy. He had links with France, being a brother-in-law of François Royer, chamberlain to the king, and the Bibliothèque Nationale possesses a unique copy printed on vellum of the first edition of the Commentarii of Giovanni Simonetta (1420-1490) published in Milan in 1490, presented to Louis XI by Gallarate with a printed letter of Gallarate to the king. (See: G. Ianziti, Humanistic historiography under the Sforza, Oxford, 1988, p.216.). It should be noted that in this volume the prefatory letter from Bonus Accursius is addressed to Giovanni’s brother, Cicco Simonetta (1410-80).

The few annotations which occur in the volume seem to be in Gallarete’s hand, e.g. f. A1v (contents of book VI) at the words ‘Agrestes Lycii in ranas’ is written ‘nota de latona que peperit apolinem et dianam et convertit agricolas in ranas’ (‘Note about Latona, who gave birth to Apollo and Diana and turned farmers into frogs’). On C4r is a correction ‘utereque parentis’ changed to ’uteroque’. F5r (Met. V, 1). H1v has a note again on the conversion into frogs. Most of the annotations are very simple –‘nota’, ‘notabile’, mentions of figures of speech. There are also notes in another hand - C5v ( Met.II, xii) a gloss of ‘caducifer’ ferens caducium [ sic ](carrying the caduceus)’ and ‘Inde caduciator [herald] qui pacem fert’(‘Whence ‘caduciator’, a herald who brings peace’).
The pastedowns are from a contemporary edition of Duranti’s ‘Speculum utriusque juris or Speculum judiciale’.