Martial (c. 38-c. 102 CE) Epigrammata Paucis admodum vel reiectis, vel immutatis nullo Latinitatis damno, ab omni rerum obscoenitate, v

Lot description

Martial (c. 38-c. 102 CE) Epigrammata Paucis admodum vel reiectis, vel immutatis nullo Latinitatis damno, ab omni rerum obscoenitate, verboru[m]que turpitudine vindicata. Rome: in aedibus Societatis Iesu, 1558. First Jesuit edition produced for its young scholars, with woodcut Jesuit device to title; the text edited by André des Freux (1515-1556) and Edmond Auger (1530-1591); with cancel slip correcting epigram 28 in book III in place at the foot of G1 recto; bound in full contemporary limp parchment, worn but structurally sound, with contents generally good, some marginalia to pastedowns, ownership inscription dated 1801 to title, other early scribbles on page edges, top and bottom; 6 x 4 in. The Jesuits established their own press in Rome at the behest of St. Ignatius of Loyola himself, although he passed away before the Order was able to get the project off the ground. Their first imprint, in October of 1556, was the Assertiones Theologicae. This edition of Martial was the first classics schoolbook to be published by the Jesuit press with official bona fides for the edification of young scholars. Adams M-706.