Ovid - Ovidii Metamorphoseos - 1516

OVID – MAGNIFICENT PRINTOUT OF OVID’S METAMORPHOSES – LYON 1516

17 Woodcuts

Rare Lyon edition of Metamorphoses by Ovid with the medieval-humanistic commentary of Lactantius Placidi. Printed in 1516 by Jacques Huguetan (Jacques Myt), in-4°, two-color in red and black with a broad decorative border and large title woodcut, bound in an old flexible parchment binding.

The text presents Ovid’s fifteen books of the “Metamorphoses,” i.e., the great collection of ancient tales of gods and humans, whose common thread is transformation: stories of gods, heroes, nymphs, and mortals who are transformed into animals, plants, stars, or stones. Notable myths include Daphne and Apollo, Pyramus and Thisbe, Narcissus, Orpheus and Eurydice, Io, Phaethon, Perseus and Andromeda, and countless other narratives that have shaped European poetry and art up to modern times. The accompanying commentary moralizes these stories in the spirit of the era, interpreting the pagan myths allegorically—for example as examples of virtue and vice or as emblems of Christian truths—a typical witness to the humanist reading of ancient texts around 1500.

The work is complete and contains a total of 17 woodcuts:

- 1 large title vignette depicting Ovid presenting his work to the emperor
- 1 famous scheme of the world as a globe with five climates (torrid, two polar, two temperate zones)
- 15 large woodcuts in the text, traditionally attributed to Guillaume II. Leroy, which were reused in several Lyonese editions of Ovid from the 1510s/20s.

Condition: Interior overall well preserved for its age, clear typography, beautiful and high-contrast woodcuts; usual signs of wear, occasional spots, marginal defects and small notes possible. The old parchment binding is sturdy but rubbed, with losses and cracks at corners, edges and capitals, discolorations and minor damage—please refer to the photos for an exact condition assessment. Unrestored, very authentic library copy.

Significant and sought-after Lyon edition of the Ovid Metamorphoses, which is not only valuable for its early print date and the quality woodcuts but also for its typ- ical humanist commentary, representing an important document of the Renaissance reception of ancient mythology. Rare on the market—without reserve price.