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Georg Franz Burkhard Kloss

Ovid homepage
Learn about the remarkable Brotherton Collection copy of the works of Ovid, printed in Parma in 1477. Discover who owned the books, and who might have added the hundreds of marginal annotations and colourful illustrations.
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Shelf of Brotherton incunabula
Notes on incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds.
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The Brotherton Ovid
Notes on the unique aspects of three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477.
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Condition and binding
Notes on the condition and binding of three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477.
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Brotherton Ovid provenance
Notes on three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477. FInd out more about the provenance of the books.
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Dietrich von Plieningen
Dietrich von Plieningen was a former owner of three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477.
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Chancellor Leonhard von Eck
Leonhard von Eck was a former owner of three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477.
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Oswald von Eck
Oswald von Eck was a was a former owner of one of the items held at Special Collections at Leeds University, a three volume set of the works of Ovid printed in Parma in 1477. He added the numerous annotations and drawings that appear in the margins.
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Georg Kloss
Georg Franz Burkhard Kloss was a former owner of three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477.
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Bookplate of William Horatio Crawford
William Horatio Crawford was a former owner of three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477.
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Photograph of Lord Brotherton, 1926
Edward Allen Brotherton acquired one of the most remarkable items held at Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. This set of three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) contains the works of the Roman poet Ovid. The books were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477.
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Brotherton Ovid cutting with illustrations
People associated wtih the copy of the works of Ovid printed in Parma in 1477 and held at Special Collections at the University of Leeds.
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Sebastian Linck
Sebastian Linck is associated with three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477.
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Philipp Melanchthon
Philipp Melanchthon is associated with three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477.
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Samuel Leigh Sotheby funerary monument
Samuel Leigh Sotheby is associated with three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477.
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J. Alexander Symington
J. Alexander Symington is associated with three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477.
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Ovid portrait from Nuremberg Chronicle
Notes on three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477. FInd out more about the Roman poet Ovid.
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Metamorphoses
Notes on the works of Ovid. Part of a digital resource on three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477.
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Pyramus and Thisbe
Part of a digital resource on three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477. Learn more about the reception of Ovid's works in the medieval and Renaissance periods.
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Brotherton Ovid annotations
Notes on three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477. Discover more about the annotations that accompany the printed text.
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Brotherton Ovid Heroides
Notes on three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477. Discover more about the annotations that accompany the Heroides
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Drawing from Amores
Notes on three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477. Discover more about the annotations that accompany the Amores
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Brotherton Ovid - Silenus and a satyr
Notes on three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477. Discover more about the annotations that accompany the Art of Love and Cures for Love
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Brotherton Ovid drawings
Notes on three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477. Discover more about the annotations that accompany the Fasti
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Brotherton Ovid drawings - Callisto and Arcas
Notes on the visual marginalia in three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477. Discover more about the drawings that accompany the printed text.
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Brotherton Ovid man on horseback
Notes on the visual marginalia in three incunabula (books printed in Europe before 1501) kept in Special Collections in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds. The books contain the works of the Roman poet Ovid and were printed by Stephanus Coralllus in Parma in 1477. List of illustrations to the Fasti.
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Ovid Opera Volume 1. Detail from sixth front flyleaf verso
View a high-resolution digitised version of the first volume of Ovid's Opera, held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library.
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Ovid Opera Volume 1. Detail from aa2r
View a high-resolution digitised version of the first volume of Ovid's Opera, held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library.
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Ovid Opera Volume 1. Detail from A2r
View a high-resolution digitised version of the first volume of Ovid's Opera, held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library.
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Georg Franz Burkhard Kloss was born in Frankfurt in 1787, the son of an army surgeon.

Kloss studied medicine at the University of Göttingen and graduated in 1809. He settled in Frankfurt where for many years he was in charge of the hospital for smallpox and other diseases.

He became an avid collector of books, his chief interest being the acquisition and annotation of incunabula.

Kloss sold his library for unknown reasons via Sotheby & Son in London on 7 May 1835 and devoted the rest of his life to writing a history of freemasonry. The sale lasted for 20 days, although the last remnants of his library were later sold in November 1835 and June 1841.

The sale catalogue was written by Samuel Leigh Sotheby and listed 4623 books, most of them printed before 1537. It emphasised the hundreds of annotations he believed to have been made by the humanist Philipp Melanchthon present in the manuscripts and books owned by Kloss.

However, Kloss only associated three of the items in his collection with Melanchthon, and took a strong stand against what he saw as Samuel Leigh Sotheby's excessive claims.