Bidspirit auction | [SCIENCE AND MEDICINE] - DIONYSIUS

[SCIENCE AND MEDICINE] - DIONYSIUS PERIEGETES; BECCARIA (translator) - [Ancient Geography – Dionysius Periegetes – Venice 1478] - “De situ orbis habitabilis” Venice, Franciscus Renner, 1478. 4to. Second edition; 4to, (20.1 x 15.7 cm); four-line incipit printed in red, white-on-black woodcut initials, text printed on 26 lines, table in two columns, printed marginalia, some leaves browned, occasional light dampstaining, scattered light foxing, Latin inscription to e6v; later full vellum over boards, some light rubbing and soiling to boards, otherwise a very good copy; collation: a-c8 d-e6 (a1r translator’s preface addressed to Hieronymus de Leonardis, a3r text, e5r colophon, e5v table of contents, e6v blank), 36 leaves total. ISTC id00254000. Second edition of this influential geographical poem, translated into Latin prose. Widely read in antiquity and the Renaissance, it bridges literary and scientific geography. Dionysius was a scholar-poet who flourished in Alexandria during the reign of Hadrian in the second century AD. In antiquity, his description of the world as it was then known was widely read and extremely influential, particularly among later poets. Translated into Latin, the subject of commentaries, and popular in Byzantium, it offers insights into multiple traditions of ancient geography, both literary and more scientific, and displays interesting affiliations to the earlier school of Alexandrian poets. Dionysius of Alexandria, called Periegetes (the guide), was a contemporary of the great Hellenistic geographers Marinus of Tyre and Claudius Ptolemy. A fine early witness to classical geographical tradition. •⁠⁠⁠> This lot is located in and ships from the UK. No export license is required for values under £65,000; above this threshold, a UK export license will be needed. Import duties and taxes in the destination country are the buyer's responsibility.