Sebastian Gryphius, 1546

OVID (46 BCE-17/18 CE). Fastorum Lib. VI. Tristium Lib. V. De Ponto Lib. IIII. Lyons: Sebastian Gryphius, 1546.

An attractive Gryphius imprint of Ovid's later works, in a contemporary binding. This edition of Ovid's great poem on the Roman calendar, as well as his verses written from exile including his autobiography, was printed by the humanist publisher and bookseller Sebastian Gryphius, known as the "Prince of the Lyon book trade."

Octavo (173 x 104mm). Woodcut printer's device on title, woodcut initials (some faint dampstaining). Contemporary blindstamped pigskin dated 1550 with initials MFD, roll border of alternating personifications of Justitia and Lucre and initials BP [EBDB w002710], one pastedown partially torn away to reveal board made of sheets from an edition of Melanchthon's Commentarius de anima (worn at extremities, one corner showing). Provenance: marginalia, including an elegy for Ovid attributed to Fabricius copies on the title verso - very faded stamp on flyleaf.