Author: VIRGIL.
Title: L'Eneide di Virgilio del Commendatore Annibal Caro.
Description: In Parigi Presso la Vedora Quillau. J. DCC. LX 1760. 2 volumes. 8vo, 220 x 140 mms., pp. [x], 314; [viii], 342 [343 - 344 Privilege de Roi, 355 errata, 356 blank], including in volume 1 an engraved frontispiece and engraved title-page (by icquet) as well as seven engraved head-pieces and seven engraved tail-pieces, 6 full-page engraved plates (all drawn by G. Rocchi and engraved by J.J. Pasquier, L. Lempereur, J. Tardieu, Le Veau); and in volume 2, 6 engraved plates and 9 engraved head- and tail-pieces, all drawn by G. Rocchi and engraved by Defehrt and Prevost, attractively bound in full contemporary red morocco, gilt border scroll and spines ornately gilt in compartments. A fine and appealing set. Father Annibale Caro (6 June 1507 – 17 November 1566) died before he could publish this translation, and the publication was superintended by his nephew, Lepido Caro, in 1581; he signed the dedication. The manuscript had been sent to Venice for publication in 1576, only to be delayed by the plague for several years. One of Annibale Caro's nephews, GiovanGni Battista was designated to conduct the publication through the press, but died, and the tasf fell to Lepido. Caro's most important works were his translations, and Wikipedia adds, "His work additionally includes two clever jeux d'esprit: La Ficheide, in praise of figs, and a eulogy of the big nose of Leoni Ancona, a local figure. His poetry is noted for the freedom and grace of its versification, so that many claim that he brought verso sciolto to its highest form in Italy. Letters he wrote, both in his own name and on behalf of the Cardinals Farnese, are considered remarkable for both the baseness they display and for their euphemistic polish and elegance." Stefano Jossa, 'Nature vs. Grammar: Annibal Caro's Apologia as a Manifesto for Orality', in Luca Degl'Innocenti; Brian Richardson; Chiara Sbordoni (eds), Interactions between Orality and Writing in Early Modern Italian Culture (London: Routledge, 2016), pp. 173–86.

Keywords: classics binding literature


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