Apuleio - Laus Asini - 1623

THE PARADOXICAL “ELOGIO DELL’ASINO” AGAINST THE IGNORANT WHO DESPISE SCIENCE AND LETTERS
Rare first edition of the famous Laus Asini (“Elogio dell’Asino”), brilliant humanistic satire by Daniel Heinsius (1580-1655), one of the greatest philologists and literary figures of the Dutch Golden Age. Published anonymously in Leiden by the Elzevirian Press in 1623, the work belongs to the great tradition of the paradoxical encomium: behind the apparent praise of the donkey unfolds a refined satire of ignorance, false learning, and above all of those who, knowing nothing, despise the sciences and the humanities, as the title itself explicitly declares. The first edition is cataloged by the Bibliothèque nationale de France and WorldCat with authorship attributed to Daniel Heinsius and the indication Lugduni Batavorum, ex Officina Elzeviriana, 1623. The work achieved notable success and was subsequently republished in an expanded form: the 1629 Elzevir edition indeed contains Laus Asini enlarged together with other facetious writings. The present copy also preserves an interesting nineteenth-century provenance, with a possession note by Adrianus Marinus Ledeboer (1797-1886), and is still kept in its full contemporaneous parchment.

WHY TO BUY
FIRST EDITION – LEYDEN 1623! The rare original impression of Daniel Heinsius’ famous satire.
ELZEVIER! A refined production of the famous Elzevirian Office, mythical name of the Dutch printing house of the seventeenth century.
AN “ELOGIO DELL’ASINO” AGAINST IGNORANCE! A brilliant humanistic provocation directed at those who despise science, culture, and literature.
PARCHMENT COEVAL AND HISTORICAL PROVENANCE! Wide margins, original binding and a possession note by Adrianus Marinus Ledeboer.

MARKET VALUE
The first edition of Laus Asini possesses undeniable bibliographic interest, valuations around €1,500-3,000 for a normal parchment copy, with possible auction realization somewhat lower.

PHYSICAL / CONDITION
Pages (8), 222 [i.e. 224]. The bibliography indeed records an apparent pagination of 222 pages, which actually corresponds to 224 due to a numbering error; signatures also catalogued as *4 A-2E4. Preserved in the contemporaneous full parchment binding, with manuscript title on the spine. Front inner hinge open. Wide margins. Ex-libris handwritten on the front pastedown by Adrianus Marinus Ledeboer (1797-1886). Overall a beautiful copy. As with all old volumes, slight defects or restorations not explicitly mentioned are possible.

FULL TITLES & AUTHORS
Daniel Heinsius (1580-1655).
Laus asini. In qua, praeter eius animalis laudes ac naturae propria, cum politica non pauca, tum nonnulla alia diversae eruditionis, asperguntur. Ad Senatum Populumque eorum, qui, ignari omnium, scientias ac literas hoc tempore contemnunt.
Lugduni Batavorum: ex Officina Elzeviriana, 1623.
PRIMA EDIZIONE.
In-4°. (8), 222 [i.e. 224] pagine.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Daniel Heinsius (1580-1655) was one of the most eminent philologists, poets and humanists of the Dutch Golden Age. Professor at the University of Leiden, he reached a leading position in the Republic of Letters thanks to his studies on Greek and Latin literature, Neoclassical poetry, and his intensive editorial activity. The Bibliothèque nationale de France explicitly attributes to Heinsius the Laus Asini of 1623, published without his name on the frontispiece. His contemporary fame was such that he became one of the most authoritative literary figures of seventeenth-century Holland; bibliographic sources and modern catalogs remember him as professor of classical letters at Leiden and librarian of the University. Alongside major philological works, Heinsius cultivated also the witty and satirical genre to which Laus Asini and other paradoxical compositions belong. The success of this production is evidenced by the new edition of 1629, expanded and accompanied by several other light-hearted pieces.

RARITY
Laus Asini of 1623 is the first edition of the satire and constitutes one of the more curious Elzevir publications linked to Daniel Heinsius. Willems catalogs it as no. 215 and a historical bibliographic source also records Rahir 181. The first edition appears in collections of major European libraries, including the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and is cataloged in major international bibliographic catalogs. It should not be deemed unobtainable: copies occasionally appear on the antique market. Its appeal lies in the combination of first edition, original anonymity, eminent author, satirical content, and the prestige of the Elzevirian Office. The present copy also adds the charm of contemporaneous parchment, wide margins, and Ledeboer provenance.

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE
Laus Asini belongs to the humanistic tradition of the paradoxical encomium, in which the apparently serious praise of a low or absurd subject becomes a tool for intellectual and social critique. In Heinsius’ work the donkey becomes the pretext to attack mainly pretentious ignorance and the contempt for knowledge. The long Latin title provocatively addresses the book to the “senate and people” of those who, ignorant of everything, despise science and letters. The text thus situates itself within the great satirical and philological culture of northern Europe in the Seicento, developed along the lines of Erasmus’s humanism and Leiden’s university milieu. The work’s fortune is documented by subsequent expanded editions, including the 1629 Elzevir edition, in which Laus Asini was accompanied by other facetious writings.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Willems, Alphonse, Les Elzevier. Histoire et annales typographiques, n. 215.
Rahir, Édouard, Bibliographie des Elzevier, n. 181.
Brunet, Jacques-Charles, Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur de livres, III, p. 84.
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Catalogue général, Daniel Heinsius, Laus Asini, Lugduni Batavorum, ex Officina Elzeviriana, 1623.
WorldCat, Laus Asini, Ex Officina Elzeviriana, Lugduni Batavorum, 1623.
Bibliothèque municipale de Besançon, Laus Asini, 1623, bibliographic description of the edition with collations and signatures.