Martialis, Marcus Valerius (38-104 AD). Martialis, ex novissima viri cuiusdam sane eruditissimi recognitione castigatior quam unquam antea factus. Stagnini , Bernardini de Tridino Montisferrati. Venice. 1531. 152 printed pages in Latin. Woodblock illustration on the title page of throned ruler, two courtiers and author, kneelingand reading his book open in his hands. 14 historiated initials. Title page with old marginal repair at bottom. Slight worming on first three leaves. Very tiny hole on leaf viii. Page x defective with some loss to text. 58 x 100 mm. Late nineteenth full parchment binding. The printer belonged to the Giolito de’ Ferrari da Trino family of printers, yet seldom used the family name, preferring the nickname “Stagnino” (”tinsmith”). Around 1483, he moved from Trino (Piedmont) to Venice, where he established a press under the sign of San Bernardino, and began to publish juridical and medical textbooks for the university of Padua. With the decline of the university after 1550, Stagnino shifted his focus, and issued liturgical, devotional, and literary works (including four editions of the Divine Comedy, five editions of Petrarch’s Canzoniere and Trionfi); altogether, he was responsible for 193 editions. After Stagnino’s death in 1538, most of his typographical equipment passed to Giovanni Giolito, and was eventually inherited by his son Gabriele. This is a miniature edition of Martial's Epigrams that shed a revealing light on day-to-day life in Imperial Rome. Not in Bondy, nor Spielmann, nor Welsh. WorldCat locates no copies worldwide. 109 firsts2024