Martial writes in a similar strain to Quintus:
Exigis ut donem nostros tibi, Quinte, libellos.
Non habeo; sed habet bibliopola Tryphon.
Æs dabo pro nugis et emam tua carmina sanus?
Non, inquis, faciam tam fatue. Nec ego.[193]
“You ask, Quintus, that I shall make you a present of my poems. I, myself, have no copies, but the bookseller Tryphon has some. You may say to yourself, ‘Shall I give money for such trifles?’ ‘Shall I, being of sound mind, buy your verses?’ ‘No, indeed,’ you conclude, ‘I will commit no such folly.’ Neither, then, will I.”
It was Martial’s idea that the proper use of presentation copies was not for needy friends but for influential patrons, from whom substantial acknowledgments could be looked for in the shape of honoraria. He begs the court chamberlain, Parthenius, to bring his modest little book (timida brevisque charta) to the attention of the Emperor.[194] He asks Faustinus to give a copy to Marcellinus,[195] and begs Rufus to present two copies to Venulejus.[196]
The hopes of the author in connection with these presentation copies are indicated by such lines as the following:
Editur en sextus sine te mihi Rufe Camoni,
Nec te lectorem sperat, amice, liber.[197]