(HOMER.) Iliadis fragmenta antiquissima cum picturis. Edited by Angelo Mai. 58 engraved illustrations after miniatures in the Ambrosian Iliad. [8], lvi, [4] pages, lviii leaves, lix-lxx, 163, [1] pages, including half-title, engraved title, and plate. Folio, 492x357 mm, 19th-century 1/2 leather gilt, spine ends, front joint, and cover corners rubbed; infrequent and mostly minor foxing and soiling, blank label remnant on rear pastedown. Bookplate of University of Michigan Library on front pastedown (released), their pencil notes on preliminaries. wide-margined copy. Milan: Regiis typis, 1819
first edition. The engravings are the first published reproductions of miniatures from the earliest surviving illustrated manuscript of Homer, believed to date from the 5th century A.D. It was ultimately acquired by the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan, where the editor was librarian.
