Opera.

Maro, Publius Vergilius.

Opera.

Venice

Aldus Manutius and Andrea Torresani

October 1514.

The guide-letter at the opening of Book 4 of the Aeneid indicates the rubricated or illuminated capital letter, here added in red and blue in the French style. The binding is also French, gilt Parisian black goatskin from the middle of the 16th century, perhaps by Claude Picques. Combined evidence suggests that this copy was originally exported to France, and it eventually found its way to Mainz, or rather Mayence, during the Napoleonic era. The book was formerly in the Junius Spencer Morgan collection of Virgil at Princeton. From the original 1514 printing, with the errata, it is displayed to show the notable contrast between regular copies on white paper and Jean Grolier’s splendid blue-paper copy.

From the collection of H. George Fletcher.