[VIRGIL (Publius Vergilius Maro, 70-19 BC); Philipp Melanchthon]. P. Vergilii Maronis Poemata, Qvae Extant, Omnia : adiectis figuris egregie depictis, & doctissimorum virorum scholijs ac annotationibus Virorum scholijsjac annotationibus, partim antehac, partim nunc primum publicatis, quarum Catalogum sequens pagella enumerabit. Francofurti ad Moenum : Apud Georgium Corvinum, impensis Iohannis Feyrabendij, M.D. LXXIX. [1579].
Hardcover. Leather-bound. Thick octavo (165 x 110mm), ff. [8], 394, [14 - index] (numbered leaves). Signatures: a⁸ A-Z⁸ a-z⁸ aa-ee⁸. Initial and terminal blanks present. Imprint at colophon. Latin text in italic and roman letter. Contemporary German blind-tooled calf over wooden boards, with central panel of Crucifixion and outer boarder incorporating heads of soldiers and acanthus leaves, featuring quotation from John 3, 16 (“Sic enim Deus dilexit mundum, ut omnis qui credit in eum, non pereat”), spine with 3 raised bands, remains of metal clasps. Woodcut devices on title and last leaf depicting the Roman goddess Fame, 18 full-page illustrations, woodcut initials, head- and tail-pieces, shoulder notes, index at rear in double column.
Condition: Collated complete, title almost detached, tiny paper flaw to second leaf, small marginal repair to G7, tear to Y8, occasional spotting and staining, dust soiling, faint marginalia in a contemporary hand throughout, ownership notes by Marmaduke Cholmley and William Elis (p. 148), boards abraded, scuffed and holed, hinges cracked but solid, spine tail defective with loss, partially repaired with parchment stub from Medieval ms.
Note: [Not in Adams], Johann Feyerabend for George Corvinus, Frankfurt, 1579. Very rare edition of the works by Vergilius edited by many scholars: the theologian from Leipzig Christoph Hegendorff (1500-1540), Étienne Dolet (1509-1546), the humanist Philipp Melanchton (1497-1560) and the lexicographer Johann Fries (1505-1565). Provenance: Marmaduke Cholmley of Bransby (b. 1603-?), son and heir of Roger, the second son of Sir Richard by his first marriage. He married Ursula Thornton in around 1620-30 (see ‘The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1558-1603’, ed. P.W. Hasler, 1981).
