Epistole eroiche di P. Ovidio Nasone 1762

Curator: Here we have a beautifully bound edition of "Epistole eroiche di P. Ovidio Nasone," dating back to 1762. Editor: My initial impression is the richness of the leather. It speaks volumes about craft. It is interesting to see an item so old preserved well. Curator: Indeed, considering this book's historical and social context is crucial. Ovid’s "Heroides," as these epistles are known, imagines letters from mythological heroines to their absent lovers, presenting narratives of female perspective and agency that resonate even today through a feminist lens. Editor: And think of the labour! From the tanning of the hide, to the tooling along the edges and the binding of each individual page...Each of these operations would have been done by artisans specializing in the required manual craft. Curator: Precisely. Furthermore, the act of binding itself gives it a permanance. I can't help thinking about how a book as object contributes to its subject and how each book might contribute to wider discussions about authorship and female narratives. Editor: Yes, this is something produced both of its time but speaks of the issues and subjects still with us today. And looking at its materiality, you can almost see hands wearing away bits of material as pages are repeatedly turned and stories digested. The social exchange involved as the information contained within spreads to larger and larger audiences is quite something! Curator: The history is really interesting; its preservation in collections such as at the Metropolitan Museum allow ongoing examination of shifting social values and cultural movements, and continue challenging contemporary culture. Editor: Well, it is true. Something can be seen merely as a means for knowledge to be distributed, but objects such as this book's beauty of craftsmanship gives clues to their place in history and how it has changed over time. Curator: So while its narrative speaks across millennia, this artifact simultaneously whispers from the age of enlightenment itself. Editor: Right, and to me it emphasizes our debt to material culture to really get a handle on these abstract concepts.