Ovidio - [Post Incunable] Heroides - 1533

THE SECRET SONG OF THE ANCIENT GODS: BETWEEN STARS, THE COSMOS, AND PASSION
The Brescia edition of 1533 of Ovid’s Heroides, with the commentaries by Ubertino da Crescentino and Aulo Giano Parrasio, represents a significant moment in the humanistic reception of the Latin poet in the Po Valley area. It is not a mere scholastic reprint, but an erudite volume that integrates exegetical apparatus and didactic tools, including the evocative full-page woodcut of the wind rose, a rare testimony to the intertwining of classical culture, cosmography, and Renaissance natural symbolism. First edition produced by Lodovico Britannico, a printer active in Brescia during the vibrant early sixteenth-century editorial scene.
MARKET VALUE
Sixteenth-century editions of the Heroides with humanist commentaries, especially when printed in smaller centers like Brescia, are less common than the Venetian or Parisian ones. Complete copies in good conservation condition generally fall in a range between 1,500 and 1,800 euros. The presence of the woodcut of the wind rose and of the figures in the text constitutes an element of particular iconographic interest.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Later sheep binding in hazelnut color with gilded title on the spine. Frontispiece within a woodcut frame also including the emblem of the city of Brescia. Figures in the text and a full-page woodcut depicting the wind rose. Some browning and insect holes. Overall well preserved copy. Pages: (4); 16 preliminary; 152; (4).
In ancient books with a multigenerational history, some imperfections may be present that are not always noted in the description.
FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Heroides with interpretations by Hubertino Crescentino & Iano Parrhasio.
Brixiae, Lodovicum Britannicum, 1533.
Publius Ovidius Naso.
Hubertino Crescentino & Iano Parrhasio
CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The Heroides, a collection of poetic epistles attributed to famous mythological female figures – Penelope, Dido, Ariadne, Phaedra – constitutes one of the most fascinating and ambiguous texts of Ovid’s oeuvre. In the Renaissance, the work was the subject of intense exegetical activity for its rhetorical value, mythological richness, and the psychological force of the female voices.
The commentaries by Ubertino da Crescentino and Aulo Giano Parrasio place the text within an updated philological framework, offering linguistic, mythological, and moral explanations that transform the poem into a tool of humanistic formation. The inclusion of the wind rose table – a cosmographic symbol and at the same time an image of the world ordered according to cardinal directions – reveals the encyclopedic horizon typical of Renaissance publishing: classical knowledge dialogues with geography, natural science, and a symbolism that, in the culture of the time, also carries cosmological and harmonious connotations.
The 1533 edition marks the beginning of Lodovico Britannico’s printing activity, a central figure in Brescia’s printing history in the sixteenth century, and testifies to the expansion of Lombard editorial centers alongside the major hubs of Venice and Milan.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Publius Ovidius Naso (43 BC – 17/18 AD), one of the greatest poets of the Augustan age, is the author of the Metamorphoses, the Ars Amatoria, the Fasti, and the Heroides. Master of elegy and of mythological irony, he was exiled by Augustus to Tomi on the Black Sea in circumstances still debated today. His work deeply influenced medieval and Renaissance literature, becoming a foundation of European amorous, symbolic, and mythographic imagination.
PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The Heroides were widely printed during the 14th and 15th centuries and the 16th, often accompanied by humanist commentaries intended for school and university use. The Brescia edition of 1533 is the first to come off Lodovico Britannico’s presses and fits into the consolidation phase of Lombard publishing. The combination of poetic text, exegetical apparatus, and iconographic material makes this print an emblematic example of early sixteenth-century typographic culture.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ICCU / OPAC SBN, records relating to the Brescia edition, Lodovicus Britannicus, 1533.
Edit16, Ovidius, Heroides, Brescia 1533 (with identifying number to be verified).
USTC, Universal Short Title Catalogue, Brescia edition 1533.
Brunet, Jacques-Charles, Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur de livres, s.v. Ovide.
Repertori on Brescia typography of the sixteenth century and studies on Lodovico Britannico.