P. VERGILIUS MARONIS CODEX ANTIQUISSIMUS IN BIBLIOTHECA MEDICEO LEVRENTIANA (Facsimile of the Codex Mediceus) Virgil

P. VERGILIUS MARONIS CODEX ANTIQUISSIMUS IN BIBLIOTHECA MEDICEO LEVRENTIANA (Facsimile of the Codex Mediceus) CONDITION: VERY GOOD Collated and complete less without half-title. ***WORLD'S FIRST FACSIMILE!*** This is Joseph Manni's intriguing attempt to give an exact textual and a convincing paleographical replication of the most important and complete ancient manuscript of Virgil, the famous "Codex Mediceus" in the Laurentian Library in Florence. It is the first typographic facsimile of ANY manuscript: a seminal event in the history of printing. The manuscript is written in rustic capitals, which are imitated with some success in this facsimile by a specially fabricated font of type; marginal and interlinear corrections are also included. The "Codex Mediceus" is of particular importance because it is complete except for the first part of the "Eclogues" (which are supplied here from another source) and because it is one of the few more or less precisely dated Latin literary manuscripts: a note in it says it was reviewed or corrected by Tucius Rufius Apronianus Asterius, who was one of the consuls in 494 A.D. RECENT PROVENANCE: From the Virgil Collection of Craig Kallendorf (1954 - 2023), who owned the largest private collection of antiquarian Virgil works (1,150 editions, not including Incunable books) in the world. ABOUT THE CODEX MEDICEUS: The Codex Mediceus of Virgil (Vergil) is a fifth century manuscript written in rustic capitals, preserved in the Laurentian Library in Florence. It contains the Eclogues (Bucolics/Pastorals) from VI.48, the Georgics, and the Aeneid. An inscription at the end of the Eclogues records that the manuscript was corrected by Rome consul Turcius Rufius Apronianus Asterius in 494. Reynolds states that the manuscript "found its way to Bobbio, and was still there in 1467." Soon thereafter it was taken to the Vatican Library in Rome, and by 1471 it was in the hands of humanist Julius Pomponius Laetus, who wrote emendations in the codex in red ink. The manuscript was first preserved in the Vatican Library, and later purchased by Cosimo de' Medici, of the powerful Medici family. from the heirs of Cardinal Rodolpho Pio da Carpi, who died in 1564. It changed hands throughout the years before joining the collection at the Laurentian Library in Florence. Published in 1741 in Florence by Manniani. In later full limp vellum with inked spine title and old cataloguing stamp at heel of spin. Engraved title, medallion portrait on printed title, historiated engraved headpiece and initial, engraved typographic specimens in the text, decorative tailpiece. Printed in red and black. Pages were originally uncut: fore-edge and bottom edge mostly left uncut during the rebind, top margin trimmed. Quarto, 10" by 7.5", collation: [2], XXXV, [1], 459 [1] pp. CONDITION REPORT: EXTERNALLY: VG condition. Square spine, firm hinges and joints, some slight cracking along hinges. Soiled vellum. Sun-darkened spine. Foxing to text block edges and boards. Rubbed extremities, spine tips pushed in, bumped corners. Red cataloguing stamp with a (partially remaining) sticker superimposed over the stamp. Some blue pen marks on spine. INTERNALLY: VERY GOOD Endpapers refreshed. Top margin trimmed and a few leaves' bottom edges and fore-edges during rebinding. No marginalia or underlining. Several spots of mild marginal worming. No water dampening. Some corners with margin paper loss. Light foxing throughout, heavier to front and rear of book. Margin smudges or stains on multiple leaves. A few ink smudges. Some areas with creasing. Most of the pages are still a bright white; there are multiple toned pages. Craig Kallendorf's ex libris sticker on FFEP. A very good copy of a very important 18th century facsimile of an ancient manuscript - the first of its kind!