APULÉE. Apuleius cum commento Beroaldi & figuris noviter additis. Venice, Filippo Pinzi, 1510, folio, stiff overlapping vellum, smooth muted spine, blue edges (19th century binding). Important illustrated edition of L'Âne d'or accompanied by the famous commentary by Filippo Beroaldo (1453-1505). It is printed in Roman type with the commentary around the text and 37 rather naive woodcut vignettes. Written at the beginning of the second century by Apuleius (125-170), a Roman citizen of Berber origin, The Metamorphoses or The Golden Ass is one of the rare Latin novels to have survived in its entirety. Divided into eleven books, the work "recounts the adventures of a young man who, too curious about the mysteries of magic, finds himself transformed into a donkey, the companion of misfortune of a band of brigands. The story contains the mythological fable of the love of Psyche and Cupid, of which this is the oldest written instance" (BnF). A few leaves uniformly foxed, scattered foxing and spotting, marginal wetness. Adams, A-1373 - Essling, n°1323 - Sander, n°485.