[Epigrammata.]

_B3V1845.jpg

Creator

Martial.

Title

[Epigrammata.]

Publisher

Venice: Aldus Manutius and Andrea Torresani,

Date

December 1517.

Description

The first Aldine edition of Martial appeared as part of the series of libelli portatiles in 1501, and appears here in a second edition, published by Aldus’s heirs. Martial, a Spaniard writing in Rome in the first century CE, provides an intimate and satirical view of the daily life of a Roman citizen, and his witty observations pioneered the epigram as a literary form. Bound in contemporary blind-stamped calf, retaining the green silk ties that would have been used to hold the book closed.

Source

From the collection of G. Scott Clemons.