Natalis Comitis Mythologiae Sive Explicationum Fabularum Libri Decem. In Quibus Omnia Prope Naturalis et Moralis Philosophiae Dogmata in Veterum Fabulis Contenta Fuisse Perspicue Demonstratur. Opus Cuiusuis Facultatis Studiosis Perutile Ac Propre Necessarium. Accessit G. Linocerii Musarum Mytholgia, & anonymi observationum in tota de diis gentium narrationem libellus. Adiectae sunt insuper novissimae huic, post Germanica & Gallicam, editioni elegantissimae Deorum imagines, & eruditissimae mythologie M. Antonio Tritonii Utinensis. Omnia summo studio, & exquisito labore emendata

Conti, Natale

Published by Patavii, apud Petrumpaulum Tozzium, Padua: Petrumpaulum Tozzium [Pierpaolo Tozzi], 1616

About this Item

4to. [xliv], 614pp, [ii], 60p. Early patterned boards, later calf spine. Large woodcut arms on title page, folding woodcut plate of the heavens before p. 1, and two full-page and over 100 half-page woodcut illustrations in the text. Title-page a bit spotted and water stained. Some wear to boards at edges, rear joint split but the board firmly attached and the binding solid, bumping to corners. First illustrated edition of the most influential mythography of the late Renaissance--and indeed the whole Baroque period. This text was used as a source by Ronsard and others of the Pleiade in France, as well as by George Chapman and Francis Bacon in England; but on artists its influence was equally profound, especially once it appeared in illustrated editions. Art theorists, too, took the work as a fruitful source: Lomazzo in particular lifted great portions for his section on iconography. The early editions (it first appeared in 1561) were not illustrated, but here for the first time the reader would be able to see a graphic image of what had previously only been described in text. The previous year the celebrated antiquarian Lorenzo Pignoria (1571-1631) had collaborated with the Paduan printer Pierpaolo Tozzi to produce a scholarly and much augmented edition of Cartari's Imagini. Some of the woodcuts used for that work appear again here in an equally well-prepared edition which incorporates other relevant text. For a full discussion of the work and its great influence, see Jean Seznec's "Survival of the Pagan Gods" (1953). Seller Inventory # 42604

Bibliographic Details

Title: Natalis Comitis Mythologiae Sive ...

Publisher: Patavii, apud Petrumpaulum Tozzium, Padua: Petrumpaulum Tozzium [Pierpaolo Tozzi]

Publication Date: 1616

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Very Good