Ovidio - Les Métamorphoses d’Ovide - 1732

“MAGNIFIQUE OUVRAGE”: THE MONUMENTAL FOLIO EDITION OF METAMORPHOSES WITH 124 IN-TEXT ENGRAVINGS AND 6 ADDITIONAL FIGURES, BY LE BRUN, BERNARD PICART, PUNT AND OTHERS MAESTRI
Magnificent illustrated edition of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, with the Latin text accompanied by the French translation, notes and extensive historical explanations by Abbé Antoine Banier. One of the most sumptuous eighteenth-century editorial interpretations of the Ovidian masterpiece, celebrated by Cohen-De Ricci with the laconic judgment “Magnifique ouvrage.” The exceptional iconographic apparatus includes an allegorical half-title, engravings on the title pages printed in red and black, running titles, 124 large copper engravings placed in the text and 3 plates out of the text containing a further 6 figures. The compositions derive from drawings by important artists, among whom Charles Le Brun and Bernard Picart, and were translated into copper by skilled engravers, including Jan Punt. Gods, heroes, nymphs, metamorphoses, loves, vendettas and wonders of the classical world are transformed into a vast Baroque figurative cycle. The two volumes are preserved in contemporary parchment bindings with red edges; the backs were historically remade. Ex libris present.

WHY TO BUY
GRANDE OVIDIUS ILLUSTRATED – one of the most spectacular eighteenth-century editions of the Metamorphoses.
130 ENGRAVED FIGURES – 124 in-text engravings and 6 figures in the plates out of text.
MONUMENTAL FORMAT – an exceptional folio of 457 × 300 mm, with a strong visual impact.
“MAGNIFIQUE OUVRAGE” – famous definition by Cohen-De Ricci for this masterpiece of European illustrated books.

MARKET VALUE
For a two-volume copy, complete with the important iconographic apparatus and preserved in the contemporary bindings, even with historically remade backs and the other defects described, a reasonable market range can be indicated at about €1,800–2,500. Particularly fresh copies, with engravings in excellent impression and high-quality contemporary bindings wholly preserved, can reach higher levels. The completeness of the 124 figures in the text, of the 3 plates out of text with 6 figures, of the allegorical half-title and of the other engraved elements is decisive for valuation.

PHYSICAL / CONDITION
Contemporary parchment bindings, red edges; backs historically remade, with defects and normal signs of aging. Ex libris. Title pages printed in red and black with an engraved vignette. Allegorical half-title engraved, running titles and 124 mid-page figures inserted in the text, plus 3 out-of-text plates containing a total of 6 figures, all copper-engraved from designs by Charles Le Brun, Bernard Picart and other artists, with engravings also by Jan Punt. Some browning and natural aging foxing, blotches or other usual signs of time possible. As with all old volumes, slight defects or restorations not expressly mentioned are possible.
Pp.:
Vol. I: (4); 12nn; 248; (2).
Vol. II: (6); 2nn; 276; 4nn; (4).

FULL TITLES & AUTHORS
Les Métamorphoses d’Ovide.
Amsterdam, Chez R. & J. Wetstein & G. Smith, 1732.
Publius Ovidius Naso.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Publio Ovidio Nasone (43 B.C.–17/18 A.D.) is one of the greatest poets of Latin literature. Born in Sulmona to a family of the equestrian order, he was educated in Rome and initially destined for public life, which he soon abandoned to devote himself to poetry. After the Amores, the Heroides and the Ars Amatoria, he composed his masterpiece, the Metamorphoses, a vast poem in fifteen books that through over two hundred myths constructs a universal history based on the principle of transformation, from the origins of the cosmos to the age of Augustus. In 8 A.D. Augustus banished him to Tomis on the Black Sea, for reasons that remain partly mysterious, summarized by the poet in the famous formula “carmen et error.” Ovid died in exile. No other ancient poet exerted such a continuous influence on the mythological imagination of European art and literature.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE COMMENTATOR
Antoine Banier (1673–1741), French clergyman, scholar and mythographer, dedicated much of his activity to the study of religion and ancient mythology. His interpretation of the myths sought to discern behind fabulous narratives a core of historical events and characters subsequently transformed by tradition. His notes on the Metamorphoses spread widely and helped to transform the Ovidian poem into a privileged tool for the study of mythology in eighteenth-century Europe. In this edition his commentary accompanies the Latin text and the French translation, providing historical, mythological and antiquarian explanations.

RARITY
Wetstein & Smith’s edition of 1732 is one of the most important and sought-after illustrated eighteenth-century editions of the Metamorphoses. Its value does not derive from rarity of the Ovidian text, universally disseminated, but from its monumental editorial character, large format and especially the extraordinary richness of the figurative apparatus. The presence of over a hundred engravings makes it particularly important to verify completeness: incomplete copies may have had decorative images removed over time. A two-volume set that preserves the entire cycle of imagery, including the half-title and out-of-text plates, thus maintains significant collecting interest.

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE
The Metamorphoses are one of the texts that most shaped the survival of classical mythology in Western culture. Through Ovid, generations of artists and writers learned episodes such as Apollo and Daphne, Narcissus, Perseus and Andromeda, Orpheus and Eurydice, Pyramus and Thisbe, Phaethon, Europe, Diana and Actaeon, Pygmalion and countless other myths. From the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, from the Baroque to Neoclassicism, the poem was one of the major literary sources of European art. The 1732 edition perfectly testifies to this continuity: the ancient text is reinterpreted through the visual language of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries and transformed into a monumental visual encyclopedia of myth.

ICONOGRAPHY
The iconographic apparatus constitutes the great distinguishing feature of the edition. The 124 mid-page figures systematically accompany the narrated episodes, while three additional out-of-text plates comprise six figures in total. Added to these are the allegorical half-title, the frontispiece vignettes and the running heads. The compositions are linked to prominent protagonists of European figurative culture, among them Charles Le Brun and Bernard Picart, while among the engravers Jan Punt is also listed. The result is a vast repertoire of deities, heroes, landscapes, architectures, monsters and transformations, in which ancient myth is reinterpreted according to the theatrical and decorative sensibility of the Baroque and early eighteenth century.

BERNARD PICART AND THE ARTISTS
Bernard Picart (1673–1733), French engraver who settled in Amsterdam, was one of the most important European illustrators of his generation. Famous for the extraordinary precision of his drawings and for his ability to translate complex narrative and allegorical compositions into engraving, he played a decisive role in the development of the great Dutch illustrated book of the early eighteenth century. The involvement of artists tied to the Le Brun tradition and engravers such as Jan Punt gives the edition an international character and bears witness to the very high level achieved by the Amsterdam workshop presses.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cohen, Henry – De Ricci, Seymour, Guide de l’amateur de livres à gravures du XVIIIe siècle, p. 768: “Magnifique ouvrage”.
Ovidius Naso, Publius, Les Métamorphoses, Amsterdam, Wetstein & Smith, 1732.
Brunet, Jacques-Charles, Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur de livres.
Graesse, Johann Georg Théodore, Trésor de livres rares et précieux.
Fürstenberg, Hans, Das französische Buch im achtzehnten Jahrhundert und in der Empirezeit.
Sander, Max, repertori dedicati al libro illustrato e all’incisione.
Repertori bibliografici dedicati a Bernard Picart e all’illustrazione ovidiana.
Cataloghi e studi sull’iconografia delle Metamorfosi di Ovidio nell’arte europea.