[Pharsalia].

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Creator

Lucan.

Title

[Pharsalia].

Coverage

Venice

Publisher

Aldus Manutius

Date

April 1502.

Description

Lucan’s Pharsalia, an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, relates the story of the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, sparked by Caesar’s violation of Roman Law by bringing his armies across the Rubicon and into Rome. The edition is dedicated to Marco Antonio Mauroceno, who lent Aldus the manuscript from which the book was printed. This copy is rubricated throughout, with a two-page dedication at the end dated December 1533 from the miniaturist Giovanni Morelli to his patron Raffaele Vitali of Naples on the occasion of Vitali’s wedding day.

Source

From the collection of G. Scott Clemons.