Bodoni / Esopo - Fabulae Graecae - 1800

BODONI AND ANTIQUITY: EMPEROR OF CLASSICAL EPISTOLARY? No—ESOP IN Parma’s Splendid GREEK-LATIN Edition
A refined edition of Aesop’s Fables issued by the famous Royal Printery of Parma in 1800, in the years of Giambattista Bodoni’s full typographic maturity. The text presents the fables in Greek and Latin on facing pages, according to a layout of great neoclassical purity. The breadth of margins, page balance, and the elegance of the Greek and Roman types constitute a perfect example of Bodoni’s aesthetics. The exemplar preserves a fine contemporary leather binding in marbled calf, richly decorated in gold with a red spine piece. A volume that unites one of the most famous texts of classical literature with the grand typographic art of Italy between the 18th and 19th centuries.

ABSTRACT
Elegant Parma edition of Aesopi Phrygii Fabulae, printed in 1800 by the Regia Typografia di Parma under the direction of Giambattista Bodoni. The fables are presented in parallel Greek and Latin, with moral apparatus and introdutory texts drawn from ancient rhetorical and literary tradition. The composition, extremely airy, favors characters of great clarity and wide margins, fully reflecting Bodoni’s principle of beauty achieved through proportion, simplicity, and printing perfection. The work concludes with an alphabetical index of the fables.

WHY TO BUY
Edition particularly desirable for the combination of Bodoni, Aesop, Greek-Latin text, and a fine contemporary binding. It is not merely a edition of the Fables, but a significant example of the artistic maturity of Bodoni’s typography, in which the design of the type and the page architecture become an integral part of the work. The exemplar also preserves its elegant marbled calf binding, with a spine richly decorated in gold and a red Moroccan leather inlay. The presence of the two languages on facing pages increases its appeal for collectors of classics, the history of printing, neoclassical typography, and Bodoni works.

MARKET VALUE
For a complete exemplar in this agreeable contemporary binding, indicative commercial value may be placed around €800-1,500, with a possibility of higher values for copies particularly fresh, with large margins, or with significant provenance. Positive factors include Bodoni printing, the Greek-Latin text, the original binding, and good overall condition.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary full marbled calf binding in light hazelnut, boards framed by golden roulette, smooth spine entirely gilt-decorated with small ornamental tools and a dense geometric motif, red Morocco inlay with the title “AESOPI FABULÆ” impressed in gold; gilt edges; blue marbleized endpapers. Binding overall well preserved, with slight abrasions and signs of use. Interior fresh and well margined, with some light foxing and sporadic stains. In old books with a multiyear history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visualizations. Please refer to the original photographs to verify the object’s actual condition. The images are an integral part of the description. Pp. (2); 12mo; 344; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Fabulae Graecae.
Parmae, ex Regio Typographeo, 1800.
Aesopi Phrygii.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The edition belongs to the most prestigious phase of Giambattista Bodoni’s activity, when the Royal Printing House of Parma was already recognized throughout Europe as one of the leading centers of typographic art. Bodoni pursued a conception of the book based on the geometric perfection of the types, the contrast between fills and hairlines, the breadth of margins, and the near-total elimination of superfluous ornamental elements. The choice of Aesop was particularly suited to this editorial program: an ancient, universal, relatively concise text, presented in its original Greek form alongside the Latin translation. The result is a book in which typographic elegance plays a role no less important than literary content.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Aesop, traditionally placed in the 6th century BCE, is considered the most famous writer of fables in ancient Greek literature. His biography is largely legendary, but tradition attributes to him a vast corpus of short moral tales in which animals, humans, and deities embody universal behaviors and weaknesses. Esopine fables circulated for centuries through Greek and Latin manuscript traditions, exerting enormous influence on European literature. Their model was taken up, transformed, and adapted by authors such as Phaedrus, La Fontaine, and numerous modern fabulists.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The Parma edition of 1800 represents a typical example of the classic editions produced under Bodoni’s direction, intended for an educated and international public. Particular attention is given to Greek types, a field in which Bodoni achieved technical and aesthetic results of high order. The parallel arrangement of Greek text and its Latin version allows direct comparison of the two linguistic traditions. These editions were produced in relatively small print runs compared with the era’s ordinary book production and were often destined for aristocratic libraries, scholars, bibliophiles, and European collectors.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Editions and catalogues of works printed by Giambattista Bodoni; bibliographies of the Regia Typographia di Parma; catalogues of Greek and Latin editions of Fabulae Aesopi; studies on Italian neoclassical typography and Bodoni production; historical catalogs of classical editions printed in Parma between the 18th and 19th centuries.