8vo. 184 p. Vellum 15 cm (Ref: Not in Schweiger, Brunet, Graesse & Ebert) (Details: Each of the letters is preceded by an 'argumentum', indicating the subject matter of the poem, and has notes in the margins. 23 pages are filled with the Observationes of Egnatius Venetus, 1473?-1553. At the end we find the curse poem Ibis of Ovid) (Condition: Binding age-toned and with a small illegible and faded inscription on the upper board. Small piece of the vellum at the right upper corner of the frontcover has gone. Name on the front flyleaf and the title. Title slightly thumbed. Tiny pinpoint and almost invisible wormhole very near the edge of the lower margin. Paper yellowing) (Note: The Roman poet Ovid, 43 B.C. - 17 A.D, is perhaps the most consistently influential and popular writer of the classical tradition. 'Most would agree that it is his Metamorphoses that has had the greatest influence, but his other major poems, the Heroides, Tristia, Fasti, and particularly his racier works, the Amores, Ars amatoria, and Remedia amoris, have played their part in maintaining his reputation as a writer of enduring importance and appeal.' (The Classical Tradition, Cambr. Mass. 2010, p. 667) Ovidius' 21 poems that constitute the collection of erotic elegies known as Heroides, or Epistulae Heroidum comprise 14 fictional letters from heroines of Greek and Roman mythology to the men they love, or desire as lovers; one letter is from the Greek lyric poet Sappho, 3 pairs of letters from couples well known in myth and literature, Paris/Helena, Leander/Hero and Ascontius/Cydippe. § Ovid was widely read in antiquity, and remained to be read at the Carolingian court in the Middle Ages. The 12th/13th centuries are even called the 'aetas Ovidiana', for Ovid's love elegy was one of the mainsprings of the phaenomenon of courtly love and its literary expression. Ovid became also the favourite poet of the Renaissance. Boccaccio and Petrarca were influenced by him. Shakespeare was inspired more by Ovid than by Vergil. (Neue Pauly 9,110/119) § This Venetian edition of 1688 of the Heroides is probably a reissue of an already 150 years old edition which was published in 1535 by Sebastianus Gryphius in Lyon. The wording of the title is the same. As there is not yet a digitized version of that edition of 1535, we cannot be sure. We compared it however with an edition of the same Gryphius of 1550, also with exact the same title. This 1550 edition has the same preliminaries, notes of Egnatius, the same text, the same argumenta and the same marginal notes. There are some differences, the printing and the layout of this 1688 edition is far less sophisticated, and the typesetter apparantly knew no Greek, considering the mess he made of the Greek citations in the notes of Egnatius. The Latin text also shows signs of inaccuracy. § The edition is extremely rare. There is no mention of it in the usual reference works, and the KVK yields only 2 copies in Italian libraries, and one in the Oxford University Library) (Provenance: On the flyleaf: Hyacinthus Marsilius. On the internet we found only one reference to one Hyacinthus Marsilius. His name figures in the Acta Reip. Litterariae Umbrorum (Foligno 1762) on the list of the ca. 700 members (sodales) of this Umbrian literary society. He is described there as Hyacinthus Marsilius de Tiferno Tiberino, Archidiaconus Cathed. Pat. That is all there is about this archdeacon of the Basilica Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta in Padua. § On the title the name: Ubald' Antii Asperchini. On Antii rests a contraction sign, so this must be one Ubaldus Antonius Asperchini. The Biblioteca comunale degli Intronati in Siena holds a title Dicta notabilia siue illustriores sententiæ ad excolendos mortalium mores vitas recte instituendas, ex Platone, Aristotele, et alijs quampluribus selectæ, Venice, 1551, with the same provenance; it has on the title: Ubaldi Antonii Asperchini) (Collation: A-L8, M4) (Photographs on request)