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Aristaenetus (fl. 550 CE) Epistolai Eroticai [Graece] E Bibliotheca C.V. Ioan Sambuci.
Antwerp: Christopher Plantin, 1566.
First edition, quarto pamphlet in Greek; woodcut printer's device to title page; disbound and housed in modern limp marbled paper wrappers, 8 x 5 3/4 in.
The only extant copy of Aristaenetus's erotic poems in Greek, the text is based on a manuscript version from the 12th or 13th century uncovered by Janus Lascaris in Apulia in 1492. Humanist scholar Johannes Sambucus (1531-1584) published his version of the text for the first time here. The name assigned to the anonymous author is unlikely to be attached to a real historical personage. Originally composed circa 500 C.E., "the majority of Aristaenetus's letters are concerned with the description of extramarital affairs; they are full of lovers using every trope of erotic literature to praise their beloveds in over-the-top encomia, paramours hatching complicated schemes to achieve their desires, wily go-betweens who help smooth their way, unfaithful spouses barely avoiding capture in the midst of hair-raising and amusing infidelities-- in short, the stuff of comedy, erotic poetry, and the ancient novel." (cf. Aristaenetus, Erotic Letters, translated, annotated & introduced by Peter Bing and Regina Hoschele, Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2014)
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