Sidonius Apollinaris, Epistolae et carmina, Milan, 1498, later navy morocco, Wodhull copy

Sidonius Apollinaris

Epistolae et carmina. Milan: Uldericus Scinzenzeler for Hieronymus de Asula and Johannes de Abbatibus, 4 May 1498

Chancery folio (281 x 195mm.), 143 leaves (of 144), A⁴ a-b⁶ c-s⁸, 54-57 lines, roman type, woodcut initials, ruled in red, late eighteenth-century navy morocco gilt, spine gilt in compartments with brown morocco lettering-pieces, marbled edges, lacking d2, small tear at foot of f4

The second edition of Sidonius Apollinaris's letters and poems, following an undated Utrecht edition from the 1470s. The text has been edited by the Bolognese humanist Giovanni Battista Pio.

There is a note opposite the title-page, "Vente de Lavaliere No. 2563 piqué et roigné 45' "; this work is indeed no. 2563 in the De Bure sale catalogue of the La Vallière library in 1783, though described as "m.r." (red morocco), so this note may just refer to another copy of this edition. The extract from an old sale catalogue pasted to the flyleaf seems to be for the Roxburghe copy.

PROVENANCE

"A catalogue of a very elegant and curious cabinet of books lately imported from France, the property of a gentleman resident in that Kingdom", sale, Leigh and Sotheby, 28 May 1789, lot 1510, "lineis rubris" (but no mention of binding); Michael Wodhull, with his notes stating that it was bought on 28 May 1789 for £12-12s, "Leigh's auct[ion] by comm[ission]", and his references written on flyleaf (mistakenly stating the book is complete), his sale, Sotheby's, 20 January 1886, lot 2361, £1-10s; Thomas William Carr, of Corpus Christi College Oxford (matriculated 1880), armorial bookplate; D.L. Cumming, signature on verso of flyleaf

As usual, Michael Wodhull noted at the end the date that he finished reading this book, 23 January 1781 [sic].

LITERATURE

ISTC is00494000