Mythologiae, sive explicationis fabularum. - [THE MOST POPULAR 16TH & 17TH CENTURY WORK ON MYTHOLOGY]

1596. Frankfurt, Wechels, 1596. 8vo. In contemporary half calf with four raised bands. Light wear to extremities, a few small holes to spine. Title-page with previous owner's names in contemporary hand. Closely trimmed in upper margin, slightly affecting page-numering on a few leaves. Occassional underlinings in text, a good copy. (16), 1137, (54), 1138-1193, (1) pp. Early edition of arguably the the most popular and influential work on classical mythology in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was first published in Venice in 1567 soon and became a standard source for classical mythology in later Renaissance Europe. It became published in numerous edition and translated into several different language. “Conti’s Mythologiae is remarkable for its combination of intense attention to classical sources and allegorizing interpretations of those myths. Conti is not content with a bald summary of any individual myth or figure before interpreting it; he labors over and scrutinizes the multiple sources and variants from antiquity. The discussion of Cerberus (3.5 = pp. 170-173), for example, employs Hesiod, Vergil, Horace, Tibullus, Sophocles, Cicero, Isaacius (= Tzetzes), Apollodorus, Pausanias, Hecataeus (apud Pausanias), Strabo, Lucretius, and Plutarch before moving into allegorical interpretations.” (ohn Mulryan, Steven Brown, Natale Conti's Mythologiae. 2 Volumes. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 316) Adams C-2437