These three first century B.C. poets, like Ovid, were very popular in the Renaissance, and have always been grouped together since the 1472 first edition of Wendelin of Speyer. The manuscript tradition of all three is poor, and Catullus had only recently been rediscovered (in 1375) in a single corrupt manuscript which has since perished. The loss of this manuscript makes the early printed editions all the more valuable. Aldus's edition was edited by Girolamo Avanzi, a young scholar who had made a name for himself in Catullus studies. The edition was far superior to its predecessors, and this together with its unusually large press run of three thousand copies ensured its influence on the text of Catullus for many years.
Exhibit Home Page 
Greek and Latin
Classics