1650 Rare Latin vellum Book - MARTIAL's Epigrams - M. Val Martialis Epigrammata
Author : Marcus Valerius Martialis.
Title :M. Val. Martialis [Epigrammata], Ex museo Petri Scriverii.
Language : Text in Latin.
Publisher : Amstelodami : Typis Ludovici Elzevirii, 1650.
Size : 5 " X 3 "
Pages : 310 pages
Binding : Very good full vellum binding (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed, old stain on rear cover - as shown) under a removable protective mylar cover.
Content : Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare foxing and staining).
Illustrations : Including a nice engraved title page.
Estimate : (USD 150 - USD 185)
The book : Rare and nice 17th century edition of Martial's Epigrams.
The author : Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial) (March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of Epigrams, published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. In these short, witty poems he cheerfully satirises city life and the scandalous activities of his acquaintances, and romanticises his provincial upbringing. He wrote a total of 1,561 epigrams, of which 1,235 are in elegiac couplets.
Martial has been called the greatest Latin epigrammatist, and is considered the creator of the modern epigram.