Juvenalis, Decimus Junius

Chancery folio (299 x 199mm.), 96 leaves (first leaf blank), a-k⁸ l⁶ m¹⁰, 37 lines of text and 55 lines of commentary, roman type, 3- to 8-line initial spaces, some early annotations, nineteenth-century vellum-backed marbled boards, initial blank soiled at foot with small repairs at edges, a2-3 repaired at head, a7 becoming loose, a few small repairs in gutter and to final leaf

Library stamp removed from foot of a2; sale in these rooms, 13 December 2001, lot 48

Goff J645; HCR 9691; BMC v 321; Bod-inc J-306; GW M1580710

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Calderini's commentary was dedicated to Giuliano de' Medici, who was assassinated in the Pazzi Conspiracy in Florence in 1478; the dedication manuscript, produced in September 1474, is still in the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. The first printed edition appeared in Venice in 1475, and this is the fourth edition.

Calderini details the errors made by Niccolò Perotti (the Brotheus of the title) in his edition of Pliny, in response to Perotti's criticism of Calderini's commentary on Martial. He also listed the errors in the Paradoxa in Iuvenalem of Angelo Sabino, a friend of Perotti's. There were more than twenty editions of Calderini's text published in the fifteenth century, yet Sabino's Paradoxa appeared just once, in Rome in 1474. Calderini's rhetoric proved effective.