Institutiones Graecae Grammatices

[January] 1497 [i.e. 1497 or 1498]

de Beer Itb 1497 B

[Venice]: [Aldus Manutius]

This first edition Greek grammar explained in Latin printed by the Venetian printer Aldus Manutius about 1497 has been re-backed and rebound, but retains its original blind-stamp cover. The larger stamp, repeated four times, is of Saint Roch, Patron (among others) of bachelors, dogs, and surgeons, who was famous for invoking against the plague. He is lifting his tunic to demonstrate the plague sore in his thigh, while the dog that cured him (by licking the sore) carries a loaf in his mouth. Other stamps feature deer, monkeys, dragons, and lions. The spine decorations include a fleur-di-lys, which suggests a possible French binding, perhaps associated with Roch’s birth-place of Montpellier. ‘Modern’ green and white endbands are just visible.