Tour'epyov cum prisca queat renouare uetustas:

Tum véos antiquis præferet officiis.

The

Then follow the Opuscula of the three authors before noticed. date of this impression * is gathered from the conclusion of Calphurnius:

ANNO INCAR. DOMINICE. M.ccccLXXII.

It should be noticed that the first impression of Calphurnius is in the Silius Italicus of 1471. The present is a genuine copy, bound in old red morocco.

134. AUSONIUS. Printed by Ulric Scinzenzeler. Milan. 1490. Folio.

This is the earliest impression of Ausonius separately published; and as such, it is sought after by collectors. It begins thus, on the recto of a i.

AVSONII PEONII POETAE DISERTISSIMI EPI GRAMMA T&N LIber PRIMVS.

Beneath, are 28 lines. The work is printed with paginary numbers, and has six leaves to every signature, terminating on the reverse of h vj:

Expliciunt ea Ausonii fragmenta. quæ inuida cun cta corrodens uetustas ad man nras uenire pmisit. Mediolani ipressa p Magistru Vlderichū scinzēze ler Anno domini. M.cccclxxxx. Die. xv. Septē bris. with the usual mixture of Greek and Latin, in 4 verses, beneath. Then follows an address, which is inserted in the note below.† A

* Some remarks upon a supposed date of the Ausonius, expressed by the Olympiads, may be seen in Mr. Nichols's recent work, entitled Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century; vol. iii. p. 175, 1812, 8vo. These remarks were written by the late Mr. Bowyer, in answer to Dr. Middleton's observations upon this date, as specified in Maittaire, i. p. 315, note.

+Habes Ambrosi philosophorum optime Ausonium impressum: et a multis expectatum: quem si deprauatum offenderis: tum impressorum incuriæ: tum mihi competitorum certaminibus uexato: et curis ingentibus obruto imputabis qui impressoribus assiderem

:

blank leaf ensues. On the recto of the following leaf is an address of Julius Æmylius Ferrarius Novariensis to Ambrosius Varisius Rosatus the magnificent in which he begins by telling him that he had corrected the poet from the depraved state of the text in which it had hitherto appeared; yet supplying some difficulties by conjecture. This address begins on the recto of A ii, followed by a life of the poet, and 3 leaves of index: in the whole 5 leaves, ending thus,

Expliciunt ea Ausonii fragmēta. Quæ iuida cuncta corrodens uetustas ad manus nostras uenire pmisit.

The reader may consult the Introd. to the Classics; vol. i. p. 212, where it is briefly noticed. The present is a neat copy, in russia binding.

135. AUSONIUS.

Printed by J. de Cereto, alias Tacuinus, de Tridino. Venice. 1494. Folio.

On the recto of the first leaf, nearly in the centre, the title is as follows:

AVSONII PEONII POETAE

DISERTISSIMI EPI

GRAMMATA.

On the reverse of the same leaf begins, at top, the address of Julius Aemylius Ferrarius Novariensis to Ambrosius Varisius Rosatus, followed by a short life of the Latin Poet. Then the table; comprehending, with the preceding matter, four leaves. On the recto of the 5th, on sign. B, begins the text of the author; which concludes on the reverse of sign. H iii―having the Greek and Latin intermixed verses, as in the first edition, beneath the following colophon:

Expliciunt, &c. (See preceding edition of 1490.) Venetiis impressa per magistrum Ioannem de Cereto alias Tacuinum de Tridino. Anno domini. M. cccc. xciiii. die. xi. Augusti.

nec præesse quiui Epistolam nostram non affectatam tibi dicauimus nec fucatam: ut quidam feles pullaria cognomento qui aliena scripta pro suis nescio quid dulce reboantia edidit quæ prophanum tantum Ambronum uulgus suspicit et opicorum turba deosculatur. Vale et nostra ut soles defende.

The addresses of Bartholomeus Merula and Emilius Ferrands follow the title of the impression, which is printed in 3 lines, in capital letters, on the recto of fol. i. Two leaves of index succeed the prefatory addresses just mentioned. On the recto of sign. B, the text of the poet begins; and concludes on the recto of H iiii. The signatures are in sixes. The printer's name and device are as in the preceding impression. The date is as follows: M.cccc.xcvi. Ernesti observes, properly, that, according to the preface of Merula, the text of the impression is corrected and improved by Jerom Avancius: some Epigrams, not before published, are added from the discovery of Francis Nursius. The present is an indifferent copy, in calf binding.

137. AUSONIUS. Printed by Angelus Ugoletus. Parma. 1499. Quarto.

This is the first impression of the ENTIRE WORKS of Ausonius; having, in addition to the contents of the preceding edition, 1. Quædam Epigrammata: 2. Epistola ad Paulinum: 3. Perioche Homerica: 4. Mosella: 5. Ludus v11 Sapientum: 6. Catalogus Nobilium Vrbium: 7. Sulpitia (De Satu Repub. et temporibus Domitiani.) The prefatory letter of the editor Thaddeus Ugoletus (the greater part of which is subjoined below*) will

Thadæus Vgoletus Lazaro Cassolæ medico celeberrimo. S:

Decreueram eruditissime Lazare Ausonii opuscula: et ea præcipue quæ diu in obscuro delituerant: nunc opera nostra e media barbarie recepta ab inferorum tenebris: ut ita dicam in lucem redeuntia: carieq; situq; obsita uti erant publicare: ueritus ne mihi accideret quod Apelliconi Teio. Qui quom Aristotelicos libros a scepsciis male custoditos: multis in locis ut æquum erat a blattis exesos: magno precio coemptos supplere ac emendare tentasset: multis erroribus temerasse differtur: Nisi tu auctoritate tua quæ mihi pro ratione fuit a proposito dimouisses. Suscepi igitur onus graue quidem et in quo plus laboris et periculi inesset quam laudis et gloriæ: non quod penitus emendationem nostram recte sub manus succedere arbitrarer: sed ut tibi morem gererem: et quoad possem rogatu tuo studiosæ iuuentuti prodessem. Et si scirem non defuturos: qui me operam male locasse arguerent hoc est qui inscitia sua aliorum doctrinam metientes palam omnibus detrahere consueuerunt quo famam apud imperitum uulgus adquirant quorum nugas præterfluere sino: modo tu studiam et industriam nostram non aspernaris. Confido dubio procul quam paucos: aut neminem diligentiam nostram calumniarum: si Ausonii libros hactenus impressos cum nostra recognitione contulerit. Enim uero comperiet (ut uenia paceq; aliorum dicam) tantum a nobis ex collatione diuersorum codicum Ausonio additum quantum adhuc ab alio nemine. Versus siquidem antea confusos addito carminis genere in pristinam formam restituere conati sumus. uerba præpostera mutauimus: et pleraq; subsultantia resecuimus: nonnulla iampridem exoleta renouauimus. Suppleuimus in plerisq; locis ne dum uerba sed interdum uersus: et integra epigrammata præter opuscula quæ nusquam extare credebantur. Non tamen ausim fateri omnia ad unguem emaculasse: oportuit in tantis fragmentis multa præterire ne magis deprauarentur. Scatebant nam uolumina hæc cum librariorum uitio: tum temporum incuria tot erroribus ut, mihi cum hydra pugnandum esse crederem. Quos si penitus resecuissem merito gloriarer quod Hercules apud. Sophoclem in Trachiniis.

Hæc dextra lernam terram mactata excetra.' Placauit. Multum nos adimit † in corrigendo eo uolumine quod de Ludo Septem Sapientum inscribitur. Necnon in catalogo nobilium urbium: codex ueræ et sinceræ lectionis Tristani Chalci hominis eruditissimi humanissimiq;. Quare in his duobus omnia meliuscule peruenisse confido. Periochen Homericam talem publicauimus: qualis habebatur in codice fidei non abrogande: Cuius mihi copiam fecit Antonius bernerius: iuris scientia: generis nobilitate: et auctoritate plurima perspicuus. Mosella uitiatus et mutilatus in lucem prodibit: ut pote escriptus ex unico exemplari: eodemq; ab indiligente librario exarato. Nonnulla tamen in eo corrigere tentauimus: et ea potissimum quæ ratione emendari posse uidebantur. Cætera quæ uix coniect.‡ assequebamur retulimus: in Eglogis nostris: quas aliquot abhinc annis scribere cœperamus quom + Sic pro adiuuit.' pro coniectura.'

give the reader some idea of the sources whence this edition is compiled. Ernesti, in his preface to Fabr. Bibl. Lat. vol. i. p. xx111, consures Fabricius for not having given an explicit account of this edition, which he calls inter principes; usu quidem, princeps'—but this learned editor had never seen the present and first impression of the labours of Ugoletus; and speaks only of their importance from a Venetian reprint of them in 1501, 4to. (not 1500, as he supposes.) Count Reviczky, from a ms. note attached to this latter impression, was also ignorant of the Venetian edition of 1501 being only a reprint of the present. Both impressions are very briefly and superficially noticed in the Introd. to the Classics, vol. i. p. 213. It remains therefore to describe the present somewhat particularly.

On the recto of the first leaf we have

Opera Ausonii Nuper Reperta

་

On the reverse is a privilege from L. M. Sforza, Duke of Milan, to the printer, Andrew Ugoletus, for the exclusive printing of the work for the next two years. It is dated xxviii Iulii Mcccclxxxx octavo;' so that it is not likely a reprint of it should appear in the ensuing year. This privilege is followed by the address of the editor, and brother of the printer, Thaddeus Ugoletus, which has been before referred to. Six leaves of a table of contents follow. Eight leaves in the whole, from the beginning, precede the text of the author; which commences on the recto of fol. I, numbered at top, in roman numerals, as is the

Mathiæ Pannoniæ regis sapientissimi et inuictissimi bibliothecæ grecæ latinæq; reficiundæ præessemus. In quo opere litterarum studiosis magis prodesse: quam placere studiuimus. In eo inuenies multa hactenus aut perperam enarrata: aut citra fidem codicum ueterum citata. Et illud in primis quod nuperrime eleganti epistola quæsiueras: in prohemio naturalis historiæ ubi Catulli poetæ mentio est in peruetere codice Plinii sic legi. Ille enim ut scis permutatis prioribus syllabis duriusculum se fecit quam uolebat existimari a Veraniolis et fabullis suis. ut tandem hac lectione (si modo doctis auribas* tuis placebit:) eorum emendatio facessat: quæ famulis ut in uulgatis codicibus positum est expungentes ac tuis pro suis reponentes litteratorum mentes implicant. Quanti fecerit Catullus Veranium et fabullum his uersibus omnibus patet. [&c.]

Sed de hoc alibi copiosius: interim Ansonium medicum et poetam celeberrimum: medicorum optime: et poetices studiose tuis auspiciis impressum accipies: quem aliquando legas cum magnanimo principe tuo Achille Torello de cuius uirtutibus alio loco seruatur oratio: cum ille a militari exercitio: et tu a seuerioribus studiis ad hæc leuiora descendes. Si uero in nostra recognitione aliqua minus dilucida erunt tibi imputabis. qui opus ex omni parte corruptum et dimidiatum publicare iussisti. Non tamen inficiabor paucis aut nemini contigisse ut examussim ueteres libros emendare potuerit, &c.