Ovid, 43 B.C.-17 or 18 A.D.
Title: P. Ovidii Metamorphosis, oder: Wunderbarliche vnnd seltzame Beschreibung, von der Menschen, Thiern, vnd anderer Creaturen veränderung, auch von dem Wandeln, Leben vnd Thaten der Götter, Martis, Veneris, Mercurij, etc. Allen Poeten, Malern, Goldschmiden, Bildhauwern, vnd Liebhabern der edlen Poesi vnd fürnembsten Künsten, nützlich vnd lustig zu lesen. Jetzt widerum̃ auff ein newes, dem gemeinen Vatterlandt teutscher Sprach zu grossem nutz vnd dienst, auss sonderlichem fleiss mit schönen Figurn, auch dess hochgelehrten Herrn Gerardi Lorichij der Fabeln Ausslegung, renouiert, ...
Imprint: Franckfort am Mayn. M.D.LXXXI.
Physical Description: 8 p. ℓ., 198 numb. ℓ., 7 ℓ. illus. 35 cm., in case 36 cm. (fol.)
Acquired through the Stanford University Bookstore Fund.
The first folio German edition to hold the fine woodcut illustrations of German mannerist Virgil Solis (1514-1562), illustrations first used in a Latin octavo edition of 1563. The translation by Jörg Wickram (ca. 1505-1560) was based on the fragmentary remains of a Middle High German translation by Albrecht von Halberstadt (fl. 1210-18). The great Nuremberg artist and engraver Virgil Solis was commissioned by a consortium of Frankfurt printers to produce the illustrations. He modeled his woodcuts on those done by Bernard Salomon for the De Tournes edition of 1557. His lively interpretations proved immensely popular, the blocks being re-used in some twenty-five editions up to 1652, with accompanying texts variously in Dutch, Flemish, German, Latin, and Spanish. Solis has been described as the most prolific graphic artist in mid-16th century Germany with more than two thousand prints and book illustrations attributed to his workshop.