1704 Scarce Latin vellum Edition - OVID's Metamorphoses - Publii Ovidii Nasonis Metamorphoseon libri XV.

 

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Author: OVID.
Title: Publii Ovidii Nasonis Metamorphoseon libri XV Expurgati, & Explanati. Cum Appendice De Diis et Heroibus Poëticis. (Complete 2 volumes bound in one).
Language: Text in Latin.
Publisher: Romae, Typis Antonii de Rubeis in Platea Cerensi., 1704.
Size: 6.5 " X 4 ".
Pages: (12)+665+(15) pages + index.
Binding: Very good original full vellum binding (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed)  under a removable protective mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (tight and clean, rare light foxing - as shown, small name on the first endpaper - as shown, light toning of some pages - as shown).

Estimate: (USD 350 - USD 500)

The book: Scarce early 18th-century Italian edition in Latin by Antonii de Rubeis of The Metamorphoses (Latin: Metamorphōseōn librī: "Books of Transformations") --a Latin narrative poem by the Roman poet Ovid, considered his magnum opus. Comprising fifteen books and over 250 myths, the poem chronicles the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar within a loose mythico-historical framework.

The author: Publius Ovidius Naso (20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. The Imperial scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the Latin love elegists. He enjoyed enormous popularity, but, in one of the mysteries of literary history, was sent by Augustus into exile in a remote province on the Black Sea, where he remained until his death. Ovid himself attributes his exile to carmen et error, "a poem and a mistake", but his discretion in discussing the causes has resulted in much speculation among scholars.