Martialis (Marcus Valerius), Calderinus (Domitius) & Merula (Giorgio)

Epigrammaton Libri XIIII, edited by Domitio Calderino and Georgius Merula, large woodcut printer's device on title and colophon (smaller), as well as several woodcut historiated initials, stains on last leaves, with a small trace of mould on the last four, small tears on last leaf, early ownership signature on title page (Pitt), later marbled calf, gilt centrepiece and fillet on both covers, gilt spine, sightly worn, corner bumped, [Adams M 703; Schweiger II, 2, 595], folio, Heirs of Pietro Ravani, Venice, 1552.

*** 16^th century Venetian edition of Martial’s epigrams, with commentary by the two Italian scholar and humanists Domizio Calderini and Giorgio Merula.

Provenance. Willian Pitt the Elder, 1st Earl of Chatham (1708-1778), British statesman and Prime Minister. Pitt, best known for the role he played as wartime political leader of Britain in the Seven Years' War, is often credited with the birth of the British Empire.