Poeticon Astronomicon, 1549

Buchbeschreibung: Basel: Johann Herwagen, March 1549., 1549. folio. pp. 4 p.l., 261, [25]index & colophon. some Greek text. numerous woodcut text illus. woodcut device on title. woodcut initials. A nice copy in contemporary blind-stamped pigskin over wooden bds., dated ‘1571’ on upper cover (some wear to spine, joints & corners, some spotting to upper cover, clasps lacking but brass catches present, small marginal tear in last leaf with slight loss of headline on recto, paper label on upper spine). from the Fürstenberg Court Library at Donaeuschingen, with small rubberstamp on title. Second Enlarged Edition of this collection of mythological and astronomical texts edited by J.Mycillus. The first edition of 1535 marked the first appearance in print of the Fables, a handbook of mythology compiled from Greek sources, probably in the second century, and based on a manuscript which has since been lost. The Poeticon Astronomicon, an elementary treatise on astronomy and the myths associated with the constellations, was first printed at Ferrara in 1475. Ratdolt’s illustrated edition of 1482 contained the earliest representations of the personified figures of the sun, moon, planets, and stars. There is some doubt as to the attribution of both the Fables and the Poeticon Astronomicon to Caius Julius Hyginus, a learned man and friend of Ovid, who was appointed librarian of the Palatine Library in Rome by Emperor Augustus, and the works are sometimes ascribed to another Hyginus from a later period. Among the other Greek and Latin texts included here are the Phaenomena of Aratus, the De Sphaera of Proclus, and the mythological handbooks of Palaephatus and Fulgentius. Adams H1252. BM STC German p. 428. Brunet III 394. Graesse III 403. Houzeau-Lancaster 762. cfKenney 88. [BOUND WITH:] GIRALDI, Lilio Gregorio [1479-1552]. De Deis Gentium varia & multiplex Historia folio. pp. 31, [5], 536, [24]index & colophon, [blank leaf]. woodcut device on title. woodcut initials. (light dampstain to upper outer portion of first few leaves, small library stamp at foot of title). Basel: Johann Oporinus [Ex Officina J.Parci], [August 1560]. Second Edition (first: 1548). This study of Greek and Roman mythology is one of the principal works of the author, a learned Italian poet and antiquary from Ferrara. Giraldi lived for some years in Rome, and was appointed apostolic prothonotary. The Giraldi is bound first in the volume. Adams G719. Not in BM STC German. Buchnummer des Verkäufers elala429

Buchbeschreibung: Folio. Basle: Johann Hervagius [Herwagen], 1549. a4,a-z6,A4. [8],261,[23]pp. Handsome modern blind-tooled 1/2 morocco over incunable covered boards, paper label; t.p. repaired in blank margin, occ. foxing, nice crisp copy; old owner's name "Mariani Ruele, Carmelite, Rome 1737" on t.p, old owner's stamp; small circular dampstain on t.p, minor repaired wormhole in inner margin of last few leaves Printer's device on t.p., 48 astronomical woodcuts. Hyginus, commonly confused with the freedman of the emperor Augustus, compiled this handbook of mythology, probably in the second century A.D. He was ignorant of Greek, which accounts for some of the absurdities present in his work, and the usual title Fabulae is due to the editio princeps of Micyllus who remains the only authority for the work since his manuscript is lost; this is the second edition of Micyllus, first published in Basel in 1535.Palaephatus (fl. late 4th cent. B.C.)rationalized myths in this, his only extant work. It held considerable influence during the Byzantine period.Fabius Planciades Fulgnetius (ca. A.D.467-532), probably the bishop of Ruspe exiled by the Vandals to Sardinia for his orthodox views, wrote the present offering in dialogue form, through which the muse Calliope reveals the meaning of the myths and Virgil the allegory upon which the Aeneid was composed.Lucius Annaeus Cornutus Phurnutus (fl. A.D.50), the freedman of Seneca, was a teacher of philosophy and rhetoric at Rome, counting Lucan and Persius among his disciples. Only one of his works, the present offering, is extant: in it he expounds the traditions regarding Greek mythology, using principles of Stoic criticism of such and incorporating allegory.Aratus (ca. 315-240/39 B.C.) was a stoic who under the patronage of the Macedonian king Antigonus Gonatas composed the present work. It is his best known work and concerns the northern and southern fixed stars, circles of the celestial sphere, the rising and setting of stars, and weather signs. As an astronomical poem, its style is based upon that of Hesiod and it incorporates Homeric terms.Proclus (A.D. 410/12-485)was a neoplatonic philosopher, a prolific author, and the last great synthesizer of the Greek philosophical inheritance. He bore a great deal of influence upon Medieval and Renaissance thought.The Aratos and Proculs are printed in Greek and Latin. VD 16 H6480. Adams H1252. Houzeau/Lancaster 762. Zinner 1958. Wellcome I,3378. Schweiger I,464. Cantamessa 2202 (other eds.). Buchnummer des Verkäufers 17750