Publius Ovidius Naso (43 B.C.–17 or 18 A.D.):

LES // METAMORPHOSES // D'OVIDE, // EN LATIN, // TRADUITES EN FRANÇOIS, // AVEC DES REMARQUES, // ET DES // EXPLICATIONS HISTORIQUES. // PAR MR. L'ABBE BANIER,// DE L'ACADEMIE ROYALE DES INSCRIPTIONS // ET BELLES LETTRES. // Ouvrage enrichi de Figures en taille-douce, // Gravees par B. PICART, & autres habiles Maitres. // TOME PREMIER [and ] [SECOND] // [vignette] // A AMSTERDAM, // Chez R. & J.WETSTEIN & G. SMITH. // MD CC X X X I I. //

Amsterdam: Rudolf & Jacob Wetstein and G. Smith, c.1732, Edition: First Edition, Binding: Contemporary decorative calf; expertly rebacked; boards with central gilt medallions; spine with five (5) raised bands flanked by horizontal gilt fillet and decorative rolls with gilt designed corners and centres in compartments and gilt lettered title on morocco label on two; all edges red. , Notes: Publius Ovidius Naso or Ovid (43 BC – AD 17/18), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. A contemporary of Virgil and Horace, he is often ranked one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature and enjoyed enormous popularity. Augustus sent him into exile where he died. Today, he is best known for his Metamorphoses, a 15-book continuous mythological narrative written in the meter of epic, and for works in elegiac couplets such as Ars Amatoria ("The Art of Love") and Fasti. His poetry was much imitated during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and greatly influenced Western art and literature. The Metamorphoses remains one of the most important sources of classical mythology.
The Metamorphoses, Ovid's most ambitious work, was written in dactylic hexameter about transformations in Greek and Roman mythology set within a loose mytho-historical framework. The characters in this work undergo many different transformations. Within an extent of nearly 12,000 verses, almost 250 different myths are mentioned; each myth is set outdoors where the mortals are often vulnerable to external influences. The first book describes the formation of the world, the ages of man, the flood, the story of Daphne's rape by Apollo and Io's by Jupiter; the second Phaethon, and the love of Jupiter with Callisto and Europa; the third focuses on the mythology of Thebes with the stories of Cadmus, Actaeon, and Pentheus; the fourth on three pairs of lovers: Pyramus and Thisbe, Salmacis and Hermaphroditus, and Perseus and Andromeda; the fifth on the song of the Muses, which describes the rape of Proserpina; the sixth on the rivalry between gods and mortals, beginning with Arachne and ending with Philomela; the seventh on Medea, as well as Cephalus and Procris; the eighth on Daedalus' flight, the Calydonian boar hunt, and the contrast between pious Baucis and Philemon and the wicked Erysichthon; the ninth on Heracles and the incestuous Byblis; the tenth on stories of doomed love, such as Orpheus, who sings about Hyacinthus, as well as Pygmalion, Myrrha, and Adonis; the eleventh on marriages of Peleus and Thetis and the love of Ceyx and Alcyone; the twelfth moves from myth to history describing the exploits of Achilles, the battle of the centaurs, and Iphigeneia; the thirteenth discusses the contest over Achilles' arms, and Polyphemus; the fourteenth moves to Italy, describing the journey of Aeneas, Pomona and Vertumnus, and Romulus and the final or fifteenth opens with a philosophical lecture by Pythagoras and the deification of Caesar. The end of the poem praises Augustus and expresses Ovid's belief that his poem has earned him immortality.
In analyzing the Metamorphoses, scholars have focused on Ovid's organization of his vast body of material. Ovid engages creatively with his predecessors, alluding creatively to the full spectrum of classical poetry.

This 1732 first Amsterdam edition is superbly illustrated employing copper plate engravings attributed to the Dutch: Balthasar Bernaerts (engraving c.1711–1737); Jacob Folkema (1692–1767); Wouter Jongman (engraving c.1712–1744), Joseph Mulder (c.1659/60-?); Jan Schenk (engraving c.1731–1746); Jan Wandelaar (1690–1759), Philip Van Gunst (1685–1732); the Flemish: Martin Bouche (c. 1640–1693), Frederic Bouttats (c.1610–1675), Peter Paul Bouche (c.1646-), and the French: Bernard Picart (1673–1733); after the works of the Dutch: Louis Fabritius Dubourg (1693–1775); Godfried Maes (1649-1700); Jan Punt (1711–1779); Jacob De Wit (1695–1754); the French: Charles LeBrun (1619–1690); Sebastien Leclerc (1637–1714); and the Italians: Giulio Romano (1499?–1546); and Pietro Testa (1612–1650).
, Size: folio (455 x300 mm), Illustration: Illustrated with allegorical copper engraved frontispiece by Picart and onehundred twenty-nine (129) copper engravings throughout the text by and after illustrious and notable engravers and artists, mostly listed under notes. Illustrations also include two (2) red and black ink printed titles each with a large vignette copper engraving; one (1) copper engraved vignette head piece introducing the dedication to the king; numerous in-text decorative wood-cut head and tail pieces and large thematic or ornamental rubricated initials. The French and Latin texts are in two parallel, corresponding columns. , Volume: Two tomes in one volume,, Provenance: watermarked on many leafs, including on the 1. free endpaper, and dedication to tome 1, as well as title to tome 2: “ BEAVUALS” at centre of leaf. 2. title and final page of tome 1: an upside-down design of a fleur de lis 3. lower free endpaper: “C D“ , References: Brunet III: 599; Cohen-de Ricci: 768. , Transation: Text in Latin with F, Pages: Bl. (2), Frontispiece by Picard, bl., Tome I: Red and black ink illustrated title, bl., dedication (2), preface (6), 1-247, bl., with 69 half page copper engravings. Tome 2: Red and black ink vignette illustrated title, bl., 249-264, 3 ff. of illustrations, 271-524 with 60 half page copper engravings, table des matieres (4), bl. (2). , Category: Book Classics; Book Europe France; Book Plate Books General;. 3 ff., unnumbered, and fully engraved with 6 half page illustrations do, according to Brunet, account for pp. 265-270. Repaired marginal tear to title to Tome 2, repaired corner tear to 327/8; overall, a near fine example of this finely illustrated work with text and plates clean and crisp. Item #B5857

Edition: First Edition, Binding: Contemporary decorative calf; expertly rebacked; boards with central gilt medallions; spine with five (5) raised bands flanked by horizontal gilt fillet and decorative rolls with gilt designed corners and centres in compartments and gilt lettered title on morocco label on two; all edges red. , Notes: Publius Ovidius Naso or Ovid (43 BC – AD 17/18), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. A contemporary of Virgil and Horace, he is often ranked one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature and enjoyed enormous popularity. Augustus sent him into exile where he died. Today, he is best known for his Metamorphoses, a 15-book continuous mythological narrative written in the meter of epic, and for works in elegiac couplets such as Ars Amatoria ("The Art of Love") and Fasti. His poetry was much imitated during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and greatly influenced Western art and literature. The Metamorphoses remains one of the most important sources of classical mythology.
The Metamorphoses, Ovid's most ambitious work, was written in dactylic hexameter about transformations in Greek and Roman mythology set within a loose mytho-historical framework. The characters in this work undergo many different transformations. Within an extent of nearly 12,000 verses, almost 250 different myths are mentioned; each myth is set outdoors where the mortals are often vulnerable to external influences. The first book describes the formation of the world, the ages of man, the flood, the story of Daphne's rape by Apollo and Io's by Jupiter; the second Phaethon, and the love of Jupiter with Callisto and Europa; the third focuses on the mythology of Thebes with the stories of Cadmus, Actaeon, and Pentheus; the fourth on three pairs of lovers: Pyramus and Thisbe, Salmacis and Hermaphroditus, and Perseus and Andromeda; the fifth on the song of the Muses, which describes the rape of Proserpina; the sixth on the rivalry between gods and mortals, beginning with Arachne and ending with Philomela; the seventh on Medea, as well as Cephalus and Procris; the eighth on Daedalus' flight, the Calydonian boar hunt, and the contrast between pious Baucis and Philemon and the wicked Erysichthon; the ninth on Heracles and the incestuous Byblis; the tenth on stories of doomed love, such as Orpheus, who sings about Hyacinthus, as well as Pygmalion, Myrrha, and Adonis; the eleventh on marriages of Peleus and Thetis and the love of Ceyx and Alcyone; the twelfth moves from myth to history describing the exploits of Achilles, the battle of the centaurs, and Iphigeneia; the thirteenth discusses the contest over Achilles' arms, and Polyphemus; the fourteenth moves to Italy, describing the journey of Aeneas, Pomona and Vertumnus, and Romulus and the final or fifteenth opens with a philosophical lecture by Pythagoras and the deification of Caesar. The end of the poem praises Augustus and expresses Ovid's belief that his poem has earned him immortality.
In analyzing the Metamorphoses, scholars have focused on Ovid's organization of his vast body of material. Ovid engages creatively with his predecessors, alluding creatively to the full spectrum of classical poetry.

This 1732 first Amsterdam edition is superbly illustrated employing copper plate engravings attributed to the Dutch: Balthasar Bernaerts (engraving c.1711–1737); Jacob Folkema (1692–1767); Wouter Jongman (engraving c.1712–1744), Joseph Mulder (c.1659/60-?); Jan Schenk (engraving c.1731–1746); Jan Wandelaar (1690–1759), Philip Van Gunst (1685–1732); the Flemish: Martin Bouche (c. 1640–1693), Frederic Bouttats (c.1610–1675), Peter Paul Bouche (c.1646-), and the French: Bernard Picart (1673–1733); after the works of the Dutch: Louis Fabritius Dubourg (1693–1775); Godfried Maes (1649-1700); Jan Punt (1711–1779); Jacob De Wit (1695–1754); the French: Charles LeBrun (1619–1690); Sebastien Leclerc (1637–1714); and the Italians: Giulio Romano (1499?–1546); and Pietro Testa (1612–1650).
, Size: folio (455 x300 mm), Illustration: Illustrated with allegorical copper engraved frontispiece by Picart and onehundred twenty-nine (129) copper engravings throughout the text by and after illustrious and notable engravers and artists, mostly listed under notes. Illustrations also include two (2) red and black ink printed titles each with a large vignette copper engraving; one (1) copper engraved vignette head piece introducing the dedication to the king; numerous in-text decorative wood-cut head and tail pieces and large thematic or ornamental rubricated initials. The French and Latin texts are in two parallel, corresponding columns. , Volume: Two tomes in one volume,, Provenance: watermarked on many leafs, including on the 1. free endpaper, and dedication to tome 1, as well as title to tome 2: “ BEAVUALS” at centre of leaf. 2. title and final page of tome 1: an upside-down design of a fleur de lis 3. lower free endpaper: “C D“ , References: Brunet III: 599; Cohen-de Ricci: 768. , Transation: Text in Latin with F, Pages: Bl. (2), Frontispiece by Picard, bl., Tome I: Red and black ink illustrated title, bl., dedication (2), preface (6), 1-247, bl., with 69 half page copper engravings. Tome 2: Red and black ink vignette illustrated title, bl., 249-264, 3 ff. of illustrations, 271-524 with 60 half page copper engravings, table des matieres (4), bl. (2). , Category: Book Classics; Book Europe France; Book Plate Books General;.

Price: $5,750.00