1577 – Poetry of Catullus | Famous Ancient Eroticism – Lesbia, Tibullus, Propertius

Catullus was a 1st-century BC Roman poet whose poetry differed from most poets who simply wrote of mythological and classical heroes. Catullus’ poetry is primarily a look into his personal life and his love for a woman named Lesbia through the lens of eroticism, sarcasm, and bizarre obscenity. Catullus speaks out against other pursuers and lovers of Lesbia, as well as poetry about his friends, politicians, and infamous promiscuous women.

This 1577 edition of the complete works of Catullus contains poems by other poets of antiquity including Tibullus and Propertius. Edited by Venetian scholar Marino Sanuto, this small tome “enables readers to come and go with Catullus constantly and conveniently in hand” (per Clemons and Fletcher).

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Catvlli, Tibvlli, Properti[i] Nova Editio. Eiusdem in eosdem Castigationum
• Author(s): Gaius Valerius Catullus; Albius Tibullus; Sextus Propertius
• Contributor(s): Joseph Juste Scaliger (Editor)
• Publisher: Lutetiae, apud Mamertum Patisson, officina Robert Stephani
• Edition: 1577.
• Binding: Full leather
• Format: (16mo), single volume
• Size:  6.5 in x 4.5 in (17 cm x 11 cm)
• Collation: [8], 174 [i.e. 274]; 252 pp
• Contents Include:
  • Poetry of Gaius Valerius Catullus
  • Elegies of Albius Tibullus
  • Elegies of Sextus Propertius
  • Editorial notes by Joseph Juste Scaliger
• Provenance: bookplate – Weston Library – Arma comitis de Bradford
  • Owned by the Earl of Bradford at Weston Park, estate of the Bridgeman family seat
  • “Bridgeman’s Book”, 1728 – signed
• Reference(s): USTC 170356

Condition:

Very Good. Full leather binding tight and secure with mild rubbing to the corners. Pages generally clean with age toning. Title page shows spotting and moderate toning. Text remains stable and readable throughout.

Why Collect This?

• Renaissance Paris edition of major Roman lyric and elegiac poets
• Appealing for collectors of classical Latin literature

Item Number: # 50176