Petronius Arbiter - Satyricon + Priapeia - 1669

One of the most famous satires of ancient Rome in a bibliophile deluxe edition from 1669: Petronius’ as frivolous as it is uncompromising in its social critique, the Satyricon, complemented by erotic poems of antiquity, with a splendid copper-engraved title by Romeyn de Hooghe and extensive scholarly commentaries – a highlight of classical literature in the Golden Age of Dutch book printing.

Petronius Arbiter. Titi Petronii Arbitri Equitis Romani Satyricon, cum fragmento nuper Tragurii reperto. Accedunt diversorum poëtarum Lusus in Priapum, Pervigilium Veneris, Ausonii cento nuptialis, Cupido crucifixus, Epistolae de Cleopatra, & alia nonnulla.
Edited by Michael Hadrianides. First edition of the Hadrianides edition Amsterdam, Johannes Blaeu, 1669. With an engraved title by Romeyn de Hooghe. 17 leaves, 558 pages, 21 leaves; bound-in Priapeia, sive diversorum poetarum in Priapum lusus, 168 pages, 4 leaves. Leather binding of the period with five raised cords, rich back toolwork and a gold-stamped spine shield. 19 x 12 cm
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The Satyricon of the Roman writer Petronius is among the most extraordinary literary testimonies of antiquity. With biting irony it depicts social life in Rome during the Imperial era, including the famous banquet of the nouveau riche Trimalchio. The combination of prose and verse, stark realism and literary satire makes the work an early masterpiece of European narrative literature.

The 1669 edition edited by Michael Hadrianides appeared in the famous Blaeu workshop and contains the text portion rediscovered in the 17th century from the so-called Tragurian manuscript. Comprehensive commentaries and notes by various scholars illuminate language, historical background, and literary allusions. The figure-rich copper-engraved title by Romeyn de Hooghe is one of the artistic highlights of the edition.

Especially appealing is the included collection Priapeia, which groups ancient erotic and mythological poems with scholarly explanations. Alongside the Priapus poems one finds, among others, the Pervigilium Veneris and Ausonius’ Cento nuptialis. The combination of classical satire, ancient love poetry, and humanist scholarship lends this edition its particular literary and cultural-historical value.

Provenance: With a calligraphic library exlibris “Bibliothèque de Fourqueux” from the historic library of the French family Bouvard de Fourqueux. The esteemed family belonged in the 17th and 18th centuries to the upper French administrative and civil elite and held significant offices in the royal finances for several generations.
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Contemporary leather binding rubbed, the joints partly cracked. Inside largely clean and well preserved. Overall a beautiful copy of this important Petronius edition with decorative copper title and original leather binding.