This volume contains the elegies composed by the sixth-century poet Maximianus, accompanied by an elegy of the volume’s editor, Pomponio Gaurico (c.1481-c.1528). Gaurico originally attributed the work, which he identifies as fragments, to Cornelius Gallus, the first prefect of Egypt under Roman Emperor Augustus. Although little survives of Gallus’ work, his reputation in Antiquity lead to numerous misattributions and forgeries during the Renaissance, including this one – a mistake only rectified over one hundred years later.

The volume was printed in Venice by Bernardino Vitali.