Messina: Guilelmus Schonberger, 7 May 1498; 20 May 1498

The fictitious eyewitness accounts of the Trojan War purportedly by Dictys Cretensis and Dares Phrygius enjoyed great popularity throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and were key sources for medieval romances such as Caxton’s The recuyell of the histories of Troye. Published here together for the first time, they inspired an erudite Catalan owner to draw Hector and Roland in Renaissance armour, accompanied by Latin verses from Ovid and from the obscure Mantuan poet Battista Spagnoli (1447–1516).

Inc.4.B.22.4[2172], lower endpapers