Emblemi di Q. Orazio Flacco adorni di figure incise in rame ed illustrati con note da Ottone Venio di Leida ; ora di nuovo date in luce da Stefano Mu

2 volumes, (original first two parts), 4to., 270mm x 200mm, [xvi, 40pp.] + [ii], 41 - 80pp.] double-page fine engraved title in Latin and Italian, fine engraved coat of arms of dedicatee, two finely engraved dedication pages in Latin and Italian with 39 finely engraved full-page plates, all printed in varous tones of red, blue, green, grey and sepia etc., with some initials and vignette printed in colour tones, bound in the contemporary orange paper covered boards, spines titled and numbered in gilt, rubbed on some extremities. A generally VG+ clean tightly bound collection of the first two fascicles or original parts of this lavish Florentine production, executed in the manner of the most elegant Venetian 18th Century illustrated books with all the plates in lovely bright condition. Each engraving in this remarkable book illustrates a motto from Horace, and the Horatian phrasing is further amplified by following it's echos through later Classical authors. Otto van Veen's ""Emblemata Horatiana"" (or emblems taken from Horace) is one of the most widespread emblem books ever published, and versions of it exist in almost every European language. Otto van Veen, aka Octavius Vaenius(1556-1629), is, together with Heinsius, Hooft, Roemer Visscher and Cats, among the most important Dutch emblematists of the 17th century. His output is by far the most extensive and varied, his predilection for the emblem was roused in Italy, and his interest in classical literature was coupled with great artistic talent. His first work was "" Emblems to Horace"" (Antwerp, 1607); in the present edition the original Latin text of that work, largely derived from Horace, appears on odd-numbered pages, followed by an Italian translation on the even numbered pages. The engraved emblems are modelled after those of the first edition, originally executed by C. Boel, C. Galle, and P. de Jode after Vaenius's original designs. (Brunet V, 1025; Graesse VI, pt.2, page 233; Praz, 523; Princeton, Emblem Books 742).