Hesiodi - Opera Omnia - 1785

ESIODO TOWARD ARCHEIC GREEK AND FASTO BODONIAN: THE COMPLETE WORKS OF PARMA IN BLUE PAPER
Splendid Parma edition of the complete works of Hesiod, printed in the ducal typography in the midst of the Bodonian period, when Parma asserts itself as one of the most refined print centers in Europe. The Greek and Latin text, arranged with strict neoclassical elegance, is here presented in a form of great typographic clarity, enriched by the author’s portrait and by a graphic layout of rare harmony. A particularly attractive exemplar thanks to the very light blue paper and the contemporary leather binding with gilding, testimony to the cultivated and aristocratic taste of the late eighteenth century.
MARKET VALUE
The classical editions of the Parma Royal Printing House, especially in good conservation and with a contemporaneous decorated binding, are consistently sought after by the collectors’ market. Complete specimens, with portrait and on fine paper, generally show a price range between 500 and 1,500 euros, with possible variations depending on the freshness of the paper, the integrity of the binding, and any provenance.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary leather binding, titles on labels and gold decorations on the spine, gilded edges, marbled endpapers, on very light blue paper, rebacked preserving the original spine, slight losses at the lower end of the spine. Greek and Latin title pages with an engraved portrait of Hesiod; stamp removed. In old books, with a centuries-long history, some imperfections may be present that are not always noted in the description. Pp. (4); 2nn; 16; (2); 110; 2nn; 36; 2nn; 248; (4).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Hesiodou tou Askraiou ta Euriskomena. Hesiodi Ascraei Opera omnia.
Parmae, ex Regio Parmensi Typographio, 1785.
Hesiodo.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The edition gathers the works attributed to Hesiod, the archaic Greek poet from Ascra in Boeotia, traditionally regarded together with Homer as the founder of Greek didactic poetry. Works such as the Works and Days and the Theogony represent one of the oldest formal arrangements of myth and morality in the Greek world. The Parma edition situates itself in the Enlightenment and Neoclassical climate that promotes a return to the classics in a philologically controlled and typographically exemplary form, according to the standards of clarity, proportion, and formal neatness typical of ducal production.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Hesiod (8th–7th c. BCE), Greek poet from Ascra, author of the Theogony and the Works and Days, fundamental texts for ancient myth and ethics. His poetry, more personal and didactic than epic like Homer, offers a view into ancient Greek rural society and a moral reflection on labor, justice, and human destiny.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Printed at the Parma Royal Printing House in 1785, the edition falls within the editorial program aimed at providing classical texts in elegant editions and philologically reliable. The Parma print runs of the period are noted for the high quality of materials and typography, intended for a cultivated European readership.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Catalogs of the Parma Royal Printing House, 1785.
Comparisons with the late eighteenth-century classical Parma editions.