[OVID]. [HEROIDS]. Annotated printed edition, with manuscrip - Lot 81

[OVID]. [HEROIDS]. Annotated printed edition, with manuscript inserts , interleaved print Manuscript title: P. Ovidii Nasonis Heroidum Epistolae Following: Pub. Ovidii Nasonis Amatoria : Heroidum epistolae, Auli Sabini, ut creditur, epistolae III, Elegiarum libri III, de Remedio amoris libri III, in Ibin, ad Liviam de morte Drusi, de Nuce, de Medicamine faciei. Recens accessere : Fragmenta quaedam ex epigrammatis Nasonis, Carmen ad Pisonem incerti autoris, Halieutica Nasonis. Lugduni: apud S. Gryphium, 1540] In-8°, deficient copy [complete in 432 pp.], pagination 17-368, without title-page and colophon, interleaved copy with handwritten inserts by a hand of the second half of the sixteenth century (arguments extracted from another edition), cursive handwriting in brown ink, passages censored or redacted, printed text annotated by a sixteenth-century hand Cold-stamped plate binding, five-ribbed spine with cold-stamped fillets, triple cold-stamped fillets framing the boards, large cold-stamped plate on both boards depicting a suppliant (Allegory of Faith?) standing on a pedestal inscribed "Fides" surrounded by the names of three theological virtues (Spes, Fides, Charitas). Rubbing, spotting, dull corners, damaged headpieces, but nevertheless rare plate binding in good condition. Dimensions: 95 x 156 mm. A copy enriched with handwritten "argumenta" from another edition by a 16th-century reader (Pierre de Le Flie?). These "argumenta" are found, for example, printed in later editions of Ovid's Eroids. A poetic collection in the form of 21 letters in verse addressed by 18 illustrious or mythical women to their lovers, Ovid's Eroids were a great literary and publishing success during the Renaissance. They were widely commented on, translated and imitated, especially in academic circles. See H. Lamarque, "L'édition des œuvres d'Ovide dans la Renaissance française", in Ovide en France dans la Renaissance, Cahiers de l'Europe Classique et Néo-Latine, 1, tome XI, Toulouse, 1981: "If the Metamorphoses in the first third of the century were the most widely read of Ovid's works, the tendency was reversed afterwards to the benefit of the Eroids. Rare plate binding known as "Spes", in fine condition. The "Spes" plates were produced in the 16th century for two printers and booksellers in Leuven. They can be distinguished by the initials of the two printers, one of whom, Jacob Pandelaert, had his plates decorated with the monogram "IP" (lower right-hand corner). The Pandelaert plate is thought to be the original and to have been created around 1520, but it was mainly used between 1534 and 1555 (see S. Fogelmark, Flemish and Related Panel-Stamped Bindings: Evidence and Principles, New York, 1990; the plate is sometimes described as "Leuven binding with the allegorical plate of the virtues 'Spes-Fides-Charitas' mongrammed IP"). The plaque depicts a supplicant, facing the storm, standing with her arms crossed and her face raised to the sky. To the right of her is engraved the inscription "Meritum Christi". To the left of the supplicant is engraved a reference from Psalm 70: "In te Domine speravi non confundar in eternum [sic] in justitia tua libera me et eripe me. Psalm. 70". Another reference to Psalm 90 is engraved around the edge of the plaque. The names of the three theological virtues appear on the plaque: faith (Fides), hope (Spes) and charity (Charitas). These plate bindings often cover, among others, Lyon editions published by Gryphe: let us quote a binding sold at Drouot, Binoche et Giquello, April 10, 2013, lot 49, Cyprian, Opera, Lyon , S. Gryphe, 1550; a similar binding is also preserved in Lyon, Bibliothèque universitaire Diderot, code 1R 41472. Provenance: Inscription in ink on the manuscript title, in the same hand as the annotations, and thus probably one of the first owners of this volume: Petrus de le Flie Rhetor. - Twice, at the end of the volume, handwritten inscriptions: Deschamps. 1604; Franciscus Deschamps. - Ex-libris Count Alphonse de la Guère, inscription in ink on the upper back cover.