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A MANUAL

OF

CLASSICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY.

HORATII (OPERA.) A.C. 10.

4to. Absque Ulla Nota.

EDITIO PRINCEPS. This edition is excessively rare and valuable; it has neither paging-figures, catch-words, nor signatures. Maittaire, who first gave a description of this volume, supposes it to have been printed by Zarotus, at Milan, about 1470, and took no inconsiderable pains to prove that it was really printed by the above-mentioned printer; and subsequent bibliographers have coincided with him in this supposition, among which number may be ranked the following: Panzer, Orlandi, Saxius, De Bure, Ernesti, Harles, Beloe, Dibdin, and Brunet. Gesner found the text of this edition so accurate and pure, that he esteemed it of manuscript authority: his words are; "Possideo exemplum primae quae adhuc innotuit editionis, "cuivis libro manuscripto facile comparandum, quae editio "cum nullam editoris, loci, temporis, expressam mentionem "habeat, ne titulum quidem s. indicem, conjectura nescio quam probabili Antonio Zaroto Parmensi, et Mediolano, et anno "circiter 1470, a Maittairio adsignatur. Literae sunt ejus "formae, quam Jensonius adhibuit, sed paulo minus cultae et "incompositae." On the recto of fol. 1. without any prefix, we read the following titular head-line, which is immediately succeeded by the first ode of book i. thus ;

66

QVINTI ORATII FLACCI CAR

MINVM LIBER PRIMVS.
ECOENAS ATAVIS EDITE
REGIBVS.

O & præsidium & dulce decus meum
Sunt quos curriculo puluerē olympicū
&c. &c. &c.

VOL. II.

B

Beneath these verses are

18 more. A full page contains 26 lines. After the Carmen Seculare, on the reverse of the 74th leaf, we have the following tetrastich (which the compilers of the Bibliotec. Portatil. v. ii. p. 94,) considered to be so much in the style of Mombrizio, the corrector of Lavagna's press, that they supposed it to have been executed by that printer in 1469; (in the copy inspected by Santander these verses were placed at the end of the volume ;)

Hoc quicunq; dedit Venusini carmen Horatii:
Et studio formis correctum effinxit in istis

V iuat. & æterno sic nomine sæcula uincat

O mnia: ceu nunquam numeris abolebitur auctor.

On the recto of the ensuing leaf the Epistles commence in a manner similar to the Odes, in large capitals; the Art of Poetry and Satires also commence with large capitals; at the end of the Satires the volume ends thus ;

Vt nihil omnino gustaremus, uelut illis
Canidia afflasset. peior serpentibus aphris.
F I N I S.

As each of these parts commences with its own proper title, the parts are not always disposed in the order above-mentioned, and it is equally probable, (if not more so,) that the Art of Poetry was originally placed the last in order, and not the Satires. At the sale of Dr. Askew's library, a copy was sold for £17. 6s. 6d. which was purchased for his late Majesty. For the satisfaction of my reader, I shall extract Morell's account of this book, as given by him in his Catalogue of the Pinelli Library, (v. ii. p. 324-5);"Exemplar est ex ea editione, quam ceu omnium pri"mam viri rei bibliographicæ periti suspiciunt; Maittairius "autem, Saxius, Burius (Bibliograph. n. 2711) aliique anno "circiter 1470, Mediolani ab Antonio Zaroto factam existi"mant. Hoc equidem ægre atque difficulter ego concesserim, "quod a Zaroti typis, cum quoad characterem, tum quoad "chartæ genus, liber haud leviter dissidere mihi videatur. "Bene vero character idem est, quo Plutarchi Apophtheg"mata a Philelpho Latine reddita, Florus, & Lucanus prodi66 ere ; libri tres absque ulla nota impressi, & inter hosce Pi"nellianos, num. 1347, 2746, & 4676, relati.—Ne quid atta"men dissimulem, exemplar hoc, ceteroquin nitidissimum, & "litteris depictis exornatum, ad calcem paginam unam habet, "manu ad impressionis normam eleganter exaratam.' Consult Maittaire, v. i. p. 292; Panzer, v. ii. p. 12, and v. iv. p.

143; Saxius, Hist. Lit. Typ. Mediol. p. DLIX; Orlandi, Orig. e Progress. della Stampa, ec. p. 101; De Bure, No. 2711; Ernesti, Fabr. B. Lat. v. i. p. 405; Harles, Brev. Not. Lit. Rom. p. 259, and Suppl. v. i. p. 406-7; Santander, Dict. t. iii. p. 33; Beloe's Anecdotes, v. iii. p. 334-5; Dibdin's Bibl. Spencer. v. ii. p. 62-6, and Introd. v. i. p. 398-99; and Brunet, t. ii. p. 134-5.

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This edition is equally rare with the preceding, but still less known. De Bure saw a copy in the Duke de la Vallière's Collection, of which he has given an account in his Bibl. Instructive: Mr. Dibdin inspected one in the possession of Lord Spencer, and Brunet states that he has seen two. De Bure observes, that the characters of this edition bear a very close resemblance to those of the Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius, and Statius, which was printed in 1472, by Jo. de Colonia; and the reason which this bibliographer adduces in support of this supposition is, that these four poets were bound up together with this edition of Horace in the original wood-binding; which circumstance seems to insinuate that this edition was intended to form part of a collection of these five poetical writers, by the same printer, and that it was printed a short time after. I shall endeavour to present my reader with as accurate an account of the contents, as from the few descriptions which have been given of this volume, I may be enabled to learn it commences on the recto of fol. 1. with the first Ode of the first Book, as follows;

Quinti Horatii Flacci Venusini Carminum Liber
primus ad Mecanatem.

Ecænas Atauis edite regibus:

O & præsidium & dulce decus meum:
Sut quos curriculo puluere olympicū
Collegisse iuuat metaque feruidis

E uitata rotis palmaq; nobilis
Terrarum dominos euehit ad deos

&c. &c. &c.

After the Odes, &c. the Art of Poetry commences, which occupies eight leaves; after which the Satires and Epistles succeed; but this arrangement is not alike in all copies; in that which De Bure inspected the following order was observed; the first part of the volume was occupied by the Odes, after which the Art of Poetry was arranged; which was followed by the Satires, with the following

head-line ;

Quinti Horatii Flacci sermonum liber primus ad
Mecænatem. Satyra prima.

The Satires are subjoined, and last of all we have the Epistles: at the end of this copy, as well as of the one before described, are the following verses ;

Natales grate numeras. ignoscis amicis
Lenior & melior fis accedente senecta.

Quid te exempta uiuat spinis de pluribus una.
Viuere si recte nescis; decede peritis.
Lusisti satis. edisti satis atq; bibisti
Tempus abire tibi est: ne potum latius æquo
Rideat: & pulscet lasciua descentius ætas.
FINI S.

A page consists of 33 lines. This volume comprises 123 leaves; it is printed in a round Roman character, and has neither paging-figures, catch-words, nor signatures. Brunet informs us that F. Didot's copy sold for £31. 11s. 10d. See Maittaire, v. i. p. 766; De Bure, No. 2711; Santander, t. iii. p. 34-5; Brunet, t. ii. p. 135; and Dibdin's Bibl. Spencer. v. ii. p. 66-9. Santander describes an ancient edition, Absque ulla nota, which he assigns to the press of Jo. Phil. de Lignamine. See his Dict. Choisi, t. iii. p. 33-4.

MEDIOL. 4to. 1474. Apud Zarotum.

The first edition with a date; it is extremely rare and valuable: the text appears to have been either taken from the same MS. as the Ed. Pr. or from the Editio Princeps itself, for in those few passages where I have compared them, I have found exactly the same readings; but it is not free from typographical errors. It is briefly called "perrara" in the Cat. Bibl. Pinell. v. ii. p. 325. The following arrangement is observed in the disposition of the contents of this volume: 1st. we have the Odes, Epodes, and Secular Poem, which are immediately followed by the Art of Poetry, and the Satires; with the Epistles the volume concludes; which consists of 123 leaves, on the reverse of the last of which, after the colophon, is the following line;

"Quisquis hæc coemerit: nunq ponitebit.") This printer published, for the first time, in this year, the Commentaries of Acro and Porphyrio, which are considered by Mr. Dibdin as a part of this volume; but they were, in my opinion, printed separately; though, perhaps, intended by Zarotus as a supplement to the volume now under description; for an account of which,

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