ESOPE Esopus moralisatus cu[m] bono co[m]me[n]to (…) de novo emendatus cum glosa interlineali…

Goff, A-141 ; HC, 319 ; GW, 417 ; see PMM, 15 (for the edition Naples, 1485).

A delightful fabulist and educational incunabulum. This elegant booklet contains a versified Latin translation of the first four books of Aesop, with an extensive commentary and interlinear glosses. The text is that established in the 12th century by the Anglo-Norman poet Gualterus Anglicus (formerly known as Anonymus Neveleti). His annotated translation of Aesop’s Fables was a huge success, as evidenced by the large number of handwritten and printed editions used in humanist schools and colleges. The printing includes a variety of characters and sizes. The initials are finely penciled in red.

This fine volume comes from the presses of Jakob von Breda (Jacobus de Breda), the second printer in the town of Deventer (Netherlands), who produced editions of the Esopus moralisatus as early as 1494. A rare work: the British Library’s catalogue of incunabula lists ten complete copies, including two in the United States, and two incomplete copies (Deventer and Münster). There are no copies in French libraries.

The title cartouche has been window-mounted; the typographical mark has been misplaced by the binder between the first two leaves (A1-2), as evidenced by the discharge of the initial on the verso of the sheet.