Ovidio / Anguillara - Metamorfosi - 1589

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ADEI, HEROES AND MYTHS OF OVID – THE METAMORPHOSES – THE GREAT ILLUSTRATED ITALIAN EDITION
Important Venetian edition of 1589 of Ovid’s Metamorphoses in the famous ottava rima version by Giovanni Andrea dell’Anguillara, one of the most successful Italian rewritings of the Ovidian masterpiece in the Renaissance. The author does not simply translate the Latin text, but transforms it into a vast vernacular poem, adapting the classical mythic heritage to the narrative and poetic taste of the sixteenth-century public. The edition presents the revised text, accompanied by the learned annotations of Giuseppe Horologgi and the introductory arguments to the individual books by Francesco Turchi. The apparatus of figures is particularly rich, with a grand woodcut title page within an elaborate architectural frame, large vignettes at the beginning of the books, numerous decorative drop caps and ornamental friezes. A fascinating example of the great Venetian publishing in the late sixteenth century, in which poetry, mythology, and illustration contribute to the diffusion of classical imagery among an audience now fully modern.

WHY TO BUY
MAGNIFICENT WOODCUT APPARATUS! Monumental title page, large vignettes and decorative drop caps.
OVIDIUS IN OTTAVA RIMA! One of the most famous and influential Italian versions of the Metamorphoses.
VENICE 1589! An elegant illustrated sixteenth-century edition of the great mythological poem.
HOROLOGGI + TURCHI! Annotations and topics that enhance the philological and didactic value of the edition.

MARKET VALUE
Illustrated sixteenth-century editions of the Metamorphoses by the Anguillara retain solid interest for collectors of Ovid, mythology, Italian literature, and Venetian printing. Complete and good-condition copies can indicate roughly in the €1,800–3,000 retail range. The preservation of the pictorial apparatus is the main element of collectible value.

PHYSICAL / CONDITION
Pp. (6), 8 nn., 536, (2). Later limp parchment binding with turn-ins, smooth spine with handwritten title; modern endpapers. Large woodcut title page within a rich architectural frame, wide woodcut vignettes at the beginning of the books, numerous decorative drop caps and ornamental friezes. Three preliminary leaves and a final leaf reinforced marginally; some marginal restorations and a marginal gutter. As with all old volumes, slight defects or restorations not expressly mentioned may be present.

FULL TITLES & AUTHORS
Publio Ovidio Nasone.
Giovanni Andrea dell’Anguillara (ca. 1517-1572), translator and revisor.
Le Metamorfosi.
With annotations by Giuseppe Horologgi and topics by Francesco Turchi.
In Venetia: appresso Giovanni Alberti, 1589.
Pp. (6), 8 nn., 536, (2).

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Giovanni Andrea dell’Anguillara (ca. 1517-1572) was an Italian poet and writer, remembered mainly for his famous ottava rima version of Ovid’s Metamorphoses. His choice to transform the Latin poem according to the most prestigious metrical form of Renaissance Italian narrative greatly contributed to the work’s fortune. Anguillara does not proceed as a literal translator: he expands, interprets, and adapts Ovid, giving the myths a pace closer to chivalric and narrative poetry of the Sixteenth Century. The result was one of the most widely read Italian versions of the poem and one of the main ways through which the peninsula’s audience knew the stories of Apollo and Daphne, Narcissus, Phaethon, Orpheus, Perseus, and other protagonists of the Ovidian universe. The editorial fortune of the work was vast and continued for generations.

RARITY
The Metamorphoses of the Anguillara underwent numerous reprints between the 16th and 17th centuries, proof of the extraordinary popularity of the text. Illustrative sixteenth-century editions hold particular interest, especially when they preserve the great figured title page and narrative vignettes distributed throughout the text. The Venetian edition of 1589 fully belongs to the great librarial tradition of the late Renaissance and is especially attractive for the union of poetic text, erudite commentary, and rich woodcut apparatus. This copy thus retains significant interest for collections of classics, mythology, and Italian illustrated books.

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE
The Anguillara version represented one of the principal tools for the diffusion of Ovidian mythology in Italian culture of the modern age. The Metamorphoses were indeed an inexhaustible source of subjects for painters, sculptors, poets, and playwrights, but direct knowledge of Latin was no longer indispensable thanks to the great vernacular rewritings. The ottava rima made the text familiar to audiences raised on Ariosto and the grand Italian narrative poetry, while the woodcut vignettes transformed the tale into a visual repertoire of immediate comprehension. The 1589 edition thus testifies to the meeting of classical culture, vernacular translation, and printed image, three central elements in the construction of Renaissance mythological imagery.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
EDIT16, census of Italian editions of the 16th century.
ICCU – National Library Service.
Adams, Catalogue of Books Printed on the Continent of Europe.
Brunet, Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur de livres.
Graesse, Trésor de livres rares et précieux.
Gamba, Serie dei testi di lingua.
Bibliographic repertoires dedicated to the Italian editions of the Metamorphoses of Ovid and to the editorial fortune of Giovanni Andrea dell’Anguillara.