Ovidio / Bodoni - Amori Ovidiani - 1802

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OVIDIO SECONDO BODONI: THE “AMORES” IN THE REFINED CRISOPOLI EDITION OF 1802
Refined Bodonian edition of Ovid’s Amores in the Anacreontic translation by Federico Cavriani, printed in 1802 with the evocative editorial indication of “Crisopoli,” a fictitious place behind which the famous Parmense Bodoni workshop hides. Originally published in three volumes, this second edition belongs to Bodoni’s full artistic maturity and effectively represents his neoclassical ideal: razor-sharp type, balanced composition, wide margins, and absolute centrality of the printed word. The specimen offered here is complete with the three volumes, gathered in a single binding, a circumstance that allows the text of the edition to be preserved in one volume.

MARKET VALUE
In the antiquarian market, Bodonian edition of Ovidian Amores maintains significant collecting interest thanks to its typographic quality, the prestige of Bodoni, and the enduring appeal of Ovid’s amorous poetry. The present specimen is complete with the three volumes, bound together in a single volume, and is also preserved in letters and full margins, a characteristic particularly appreciated in Bodonian impressions. The lack of the frontispiece with the portrait of Federico Cavriani foreseen in the first volume, along with the usual browning and foxing, negatively affects value. Overall, considering textual completeness, binding, state of conservation, and typographic interest, a realistic antiquarian valuation can be placed in the range of €550–700.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Three volumes gathered in a single tome. Rigid card cover binding, spine with a label and gold title. Cardboard worn with age marks, small signs and physiological wear. Print on quality paper, characterized by Bodoni’s typical typographic layout, wide margins, sharp characters, and page balance. Copy in bristles (barbe), with full margins not trimmed, thus preserving the original paper dimensions. Pages affected by browning and conventional foxing. The work is complete in the three volumes, all present and bound together. Copy lacking the frontispiece with the portrait of Federico Cavriani, planned for the first volume. In old books, with a long piquant history, there may be some imperfections, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visuals. The images are an integral part of the description. Pp. (4); 2nn.; 8; 164; 154; (2); 4nn.; 174; (4).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Amori Ovidiani. Traduzione anacreontica di Federico Cavriani. Edizione seconda.
Crisopoli [but Parma, Giambattista Bodoni], 1802.
Ovidius Naso, Publius – Cavriani, Federico.
Complete edition in three volumes, gathered in a single tome.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The publication marks a significant meeting between one of the pinnacles of Latin erotic elegiac poetry and Italian neoclassical culture spanning the 17th and 18th centuries. The Amores narrate the amorous experience through seduction, desire, irony, and sophisticated literary play, exerting a deep influence on European poetry. Cavriani reworks the Ovidian text through an “anacreontic” translation, adapting its tone to the literary sensibility of his time. The result is an interesting example of Ovid’s fortune in Italian neoclassical culture. Equally important is the typographic realization. The edition belongs to Bodoni’s mature period, when his Parmense workshop had already achieved international fame. The Bodonian page, freed from superfluous ornaments and built through clear types, symmetry, white spaces, and wide margins, becomes an integral part of the aesthetic experience of the work. Particularly curious is the fictitious place of printing “Crisopoli,” behind which Parma hides: a detail that adds further bibliographic and collecting interest to the edition.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Publio Ovidio Nasone (43 BC–17/18 AD) was one of the greatest poets of the Augustan era. Born in Sulmona and educated in Rome, he became famous especially for love and mythological poetry. The Amores, written in his youth, constitute one of the peaks of Latin erotic elegy. Alongside the Heroides, the Ars Amatoria, and above all the Metamorphoses, they helped make Ovid one of the most read, translated, and reinterpreted classical authors in Western culture.

Federico Cavriani (1762–1833), Mantuan intellectual, translator, and public figure, dedicated himself to reinterpreting the classics according to the tastes of his era. He had already published his own version of the Amores in 1794; in 1802 he promoted this second edition, entrusting its realization to Bodoni.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Cavriani’s translation of the Amores first appeared in 1794. The present second edition of 1802 was printed by Giambattista Bodoni and editorially designed in three volumes in-8°. The indication “Crisopoli” does not identify the real place of production: the work belongs to Bodoni’s Parmense production and is catalogued in Bodoni bibliography by Brooks at n. 856. The first volume also provided an antiporta with the portrait of Federico Cavriani engraved by Francesco Rosaspina, not present in the specimen offered here. In this specimen, the three volumes are all preserved and bound together in a single binding. The preservation in bristles and with untrimmed margins also allows appreciation of the original page width and the typographic proportions conceived by the Bodoni workshop.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Brooks, Compendiosa bibliografia di edizioni bodoniane, n. 856.
De Lama, Vita del Cavaliere Giambattista Bodoni, II, pp. 147–148.
Parenti, Dizionario dei luoghi di stampa falsi, inventati o supposti, p. 72.
Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense, record TO0E010138.