Valerio Flacco - Argonauticon - 1503

The Poem of Jason and the Argonauts: Between Heroes, Betrayals, and Tragic Destinies
First Giuntina edition of the Argonauticon by Gaius Valerius Flaccus.
The story of the Argonauts is one of the great foundational myths of the Greek imagination, and it recounts the first collective undertaking of Hellenic heroism.
A decisive turning point in the history of Renaissance typography and in the transmission of Latin classics, this edition, printed in italic type, locates itself at the heart of the competition—editorial, legal, and symbolic—between the Giunta workshop and the Aldine hegemony, at a moment when italic was still the object of exclusive privileges and of open contention.
Edited by Benedetto Riccardini on a text established by Bartolomeo Fonzio, the edition combines philological ambition, editorial strategy, and conscious typographic appropriation, transforming italics from a mere graphical choice into a vehicle of cultural authority. The volume also stands out for its striking material elements: hand-painted initials in red and blue, with at least one initial illuminated and gilded in gold, attesting to a careful and cultivated reception of the text and reinforcing the character of a “humanist” book, poised between serialized production and manuscript tradition. Taken as a whole, the edition offers an exemplary case of how early sixteenth-century printed books could carve out space for negotiation between technical innovation, intellectual prestige, and the memory of the codex.
Market value
In the antiquarian market this Valerius Flaccus, Florence 1503, the first Giunta edition of the Argonauticon in octavo format and in italic type, presents a realistic valuation between 1,000 and 2,000 euros, taking into account the high historical-typographical importance of the edition and the conservation state of the specimen. Its relevance as Bernardo Giunta’s third octavo in italic type and as a direct testament to the competition with the Aldine workshop underscores its collecting interest, while the binding conditions, with woodworms, gaps and loosenings, limit its value compared with better-preserved copies. In this range, the most probable position is in the lower-middle band, while remaining a volume sought after by collectors specialized in Renaissance typography and Latin classics of the early sixteenth century.

Physical description and condition
Binding made from an ancient parchment manuscript, reused as cover material, with evident traces of the original writing, in keeping with a practice common in the early sixteenth century and particularly valued today for its historical and documentary value. Hand-painted drop caps in red and blue, with a capital illuminated in gold, a prized feature. Contemporary manuscript marginal notes in brown ink at the margins of the text. Pages with some stains and browning; overall a specimen of strong historical-material interest. In old books with a multi-century history, there may be some imperfections, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 198 leaves; (4).

Full title and author
Argonauticon.
Florence, the work and expense of Philippus the bookseller, 1503.
Gaius Valerius Flaccus.

Context and Significance
L’Argonauticon by Valerio Flacco, an epic poem from the Flavian era dedicated to the voyage of the Argonauts and the myth of Jason, underwent a relatively late humanistic rediscovery compared to other Latin classics. This 1503 edition constitutes the first Giunta edition of the work and one of the early printed appearances of the text in a portable format, conceived for an educated circulation but not exclusively academic. The text follows the edition established by Bartolomeo Fonzio and is accompanied by Benedetto Riccardini’s dedication to Bernardo Michelozzo, son of the famous architect and canon of the Florence Cathedral, a sign of a precise rooting in the Florentine humanistic milieu. The use of italics, borrowed from the Aldine invention, is not neutral: it gives the text an aura of modernity and authority, anticipating Aldo Manuzio on an author who had not yet entered his catalog stably. In this sense, the edition represents a refined form of editorial competition, subtler than the literal reproductions already undertaken by Giunta for Catullus and Horace.

The story of the Argonauts is one of the great foundational myths of the Greek imagination, and it recounts the first collective undertaking of Hellenic heroism.
Tell the story of Jason’s undertaking, sent to seize the Golden Fleece aboard the ship Argo together with the greatest heroes of Greece. The voyage is a succession of trials, wondrous encounters, and mortal dangers, up to the arrival in Colchis. Here Medea’s help makes the feat possible, but paves the way for betrayals and tragedies. The myth unites heroic adventure and tragic fate, marking the passage from epic to the awareness of the price of power.

Biography of the Author
Gaius Valerius Flaccus was a Latin poet of the 1st century AD, active during the Flavian period. His major work, the Argonauticon, remained unfinished. It reworks the Greek myth of the Argonauts in epic form, blending Virgilian models with Hellenistic influences. Rediscovered by the humanists, Flaccus enjoyed significant editorial success, especially from the early 16th century onwards, when the poem was integrated into the Renaissance scholastic and literary canon.

Printing history and circulation
This edition is the third book printed by Bernardo Giunta in octavo format and in italic type, following the editions of Catullus and Horace in 1502. The adoption of italic type occurred at a time of great legal tension: Aldus Manutius had introduced the type in 1501, obtaining a ten-year privilege from the Venetian Senate, extended in October and November 1502 to all of Italy, and reinforced by a similar papal privilege granted by Alexander VI on December 17, 1502, accompanied by spiritual sanctions. The first Giunta italic editions were line-for-line copies of Aldine editions; the Valerio Flacco of 1503 instead marks a more sophisticated editorial strategy, using italic type as a sign of prestige and modernity without directly depending on a specific Aldine model. The Giunta italic type remained in use until 1513, when the workshop had a new type engraved.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Balsamo, Luigi – Tinto, Alberto, Origins of Italics in Sixteenth-Century Italian Typography, Milan, Il Polifilo, 1967, pp. 103–110 (in particular pp. 106–107 for the Giunti editions in italics and the Valerius Flaccus 1503).

Renouard, Antoine-Augustin, Annales de l'imprimerie des Alde, Paris, Renouard, 1834, pp. 28–35 (privileges on italics; updates and observations on counterfeits and imitations outside Venice).

Lowry, Martin, The World of Aldus Manutius: Business and Scholarship in Renaissance Venice (Oxford, Blackwell, 1979), pp. 63–71 (on the privilege of italics and the reactions of competing workshops).

Nuovo, Angela, The Book Trade in the Italian Renaissance, Leiden–Boston, Brill, 2013, pp. 145–152 (interurban competition, typographical privileges, and the circulation of the octavo format).

EDIT16 – National census of 16th-century Italian editions, Valerius Flaccus entry, Argonauticon, Florence, Philippus bibliopola, 1503 (verification of collation and typographical attribution).

ICCU / OPAC SBN, IT\ICCU\TO0E\000123 (copies registered in Italian libraries; material description and copy notes).

ISTC (for the manuscript tradition and early printings of the work): Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica, post-ancient textual tradition and early humanistic editions.

Grafton, Anthony, Commerce with the Classics, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1997, pp. 89–96 (dynamics of editorial appropriation of classical texts in the early sixteenth century).

Gaskell, Philip, A New Introduction to Bibliography, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1972, pp. 214–220 (formats, italics, distinction between typographical design and material reception).

Kristeller, Paul Oskar, Iter Italicum, vol. I, London–Leiden, Warburg–Brill, 1963, n.v. Valerius Flaccus (for the humanistic success and circulation of the text).