1790 Venice Edition of Virgil's Opera — Personal Signed Copy of Piarist Father Jacinto Feliu

Title: P. Virgilii Maronis Opera — Tomus Primus (Volume I: Bucolica, Georgica, Aeneis)
Author: Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro)
Editor & Commentator: Carolus Ruaeus (Charles de La Rue, S.J., 1643 – 1725)
Edition: 1790 Venice Imprint / Enlarged Dauphin (Delphin) Edition
Publisher: Apud Sebastianum Coleti, Venice
Genre: Classical Literature, History - Spain, History - 18th C Education, Catholic Church - Jesuits, Catalan Piarists
Provenance & Lineage: From the Personal Library of Father Jacinto Feliu (1787 – 1867), prominent Catalan Piarist priest, educational reformer, and founder of the first Piarist schools in Cuba and the Americas. Features his authentic title page signature alongside the stamped library seal of the Colegio de Escuelas Pías de Olot (Girona, Spain).
Physical Condition: Good.

Title page, Latin to English translation:

The Works of Virgil Maron,
Interpretation and notes by Carolus Ruaeus
For the use of the most serene Dauphin.
The new edition enlarged and improved,
To which he added a most accurate index,
Complete with all numbers and concordances,
According to the third edition of Paris A. 1726

Tomus Primus/Volume I Venice 1790
At Sebastianus Coleti
By permission and privilege of superiors (the Crown)

Publius Vergilius Maro, known as Virgil, was one of the greatest poets of the Roman Empire. Born in 70 BCE, in Andes, near Mantua, Italy, Virgil's early life was rooted in the Italian countryside. His education spanned various cities including Cremona, Milan, and Rome, where he studied Greek and Roman authors, rhetoric, and philosophy. Virgil's most renowned work is the epic poem "Aeneid," which he composed around 30 BCE and remained unfinished at his death in 19 BCE, in Brundisium. The "Aeneid" is celebrated for its portrayal of the legendary founder of Rome and encapsulates the Roman mission to civilize the world under divine guidance.

Charles de La Rue, or Carolus Ruaeus, (1643 - 1725), born in Paris, was a prominent Jesuit scholar and orator during the 17th century. He entered the Jesuit novitiate on September 7, 1659, and later became a professor of humanities and rhetoric. His poetic tribute to the victories of Louis XIV garnered him early attention. His interpretation of Virgil's works is well-regarded, encompassing the full texts of the Bucolics (or Eclogues), the Georgics, and the Aeneid.

The Historic Legacy of the Delphin Virgil
This volume represents an extraordinary chapter in the history of Western classical education. Commissioned in the late 17th century by King Louis XIV of France for the instruction of his heir, the Dauphin, this definitive edition of Virgil's Opera was meticulously edited by the legendary Jesuit scholar Carolus Ruaeus (Charles de La Rue). Ruaeus's masterful commentary and clear Latin interpretations became so celebrated that his text served as the gold standard for teaching the classics across Europe and early America for nearly two centuries. While the true first edition of Ruaeus’s text emerged from Paris in 1675, its immense popularity sparked hundreds of successive printings across major continental publishing capitals. This specific 1790 Venetian printing by the esteemed house of Sebastian Coleti meticulously reproduces the highly corrected and refined text block layout of the historic 1726 Paris edition. Because copies of the Delphin Virgil were the cornerstones of elite academic training, this physical book eventually crossed borders to serve as a vital working tool in the expansion of religious education. It survived to become an intimate piece of ecclesiastical history, uniquely preserved as a personal, signed artifact from the private library of the historic Piarist educational reformer, Father Jacinto Feliu.

Jacinto Feliu Unset (1787 - 1867), whose name is signed on the title page adjacent to the stamped seal of Colegio de Escuelas Pias de Osot, was a priest of the Order of Piarists, a religious community dedicated to the education of youth, following the principles of Saint Joseph Calasanz. Father Feliu helped restore the Piarist Order in Catalan Spain, reformed the Piarist curricula with emphasis on mathematics, established Piast schools, including two in Cuba, the first in the Americas, and promoted the expansion of the Congregation of the Daughters of Mary Piarists. Father Feliu, in collaboration with Agustín Casanovas, was instrumental in promoting the religious congregation founded by Paula Montal Fornés, who pioneered the education of girls and young women.

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Condition: Good. Lacks dust jacket, as issued. Leather-bound marbled wood cover boards with gilt title and decoration: Cracked at the front and back endpapers; moderate wear front and back, with rubbing along the upper and fore edges of the front and scattered small scratches on the back; light to moderate wear along all edges; corners are bumped; light rubbing of the gilt on the spine label and decorative elements, and fading of ink on the paper label affixed at the bottom; small open tear at the head of the spine and separation along the front hinge at the tail. Text block is square and straight, but tightly-bound pages are warped from moisture and humidity. No mildew or musty odor. Discoloration of the front and back endpapers from adhesives used on the covers. Dampstain on title page and facing page, index pages and back fly leaf, and pages 8 - 32. Light foxing throughout, mostly in the margins, and small brown stains on pages 290-291 and 303-304. Frontispiece and fold-out map were removed.