PERVIGILIUM VENERIS

(DOVES PRESS)

Published by Doves Press 1910 [i.e., 1911], Hammersmith, 1910

About this Item

235 x 170 mm. (9 1/4 x 6 5/8"). 1 p.l., 7, [1] (blank) pp.From the text as edited, rearranged, and supplemented by J. W. Mackail. Original limp vellum by the Doves Bindery (stamp-signed on rear pastedown), flat spine lettered in gilt. Printed in red and black. Front pastedown with bookplates of Mary Priscilla Smith and Brooklyn Public Library. Tidcombe DP-21; Tomkinson, p. 56. â Vellum a little rumpled, with (naturally occurring) discoloration and mild soiling, but still a fine copy, clean, fresh, and bright internally, in a binding with few signs of wear. Attractively printed (as always) by the Doves Press, this short Latin poem of unknown origin is a hymn to love and springtime, celebrating the rites of the goddess of procreation Venus Genetrix, as observed over a three-day holiday in a Sicilian village. According to the Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, "it dates perhaps from the time of Hadrian and is possibly the work of Florus." It has a lovely refrain that is repeated every fourth line and that stands out here in red: "cras amet qui numquam amavit quique amavit cras amet" ("tomorrow may he love who has never loved, [and] whoever has loved, may he love tomorrow"). T. J. Cobden-Sanderson and Emery Walker founded the Doves Press in 1900, as a vehicle for the production of what they termed "the Book Beautiful." As Cave says, the Doves Press books, "completely without ornament or illustration, . . . depended for their beauty almost entirely on the clarity of the type, the excellence of the layout, and the perfection of the presswork.". ONE OF 150 COPIES on paper (and 12 on vellum). Seller Inventory # ST17040d

Bibliographic Details

Title: PERVIGILIUM VENERIS

Publisher: Doves Press 1910 [i.e., 1911], Hammersmith

Publication Date: 1910