 Though Ovid mentions he had written twelve books, no verified ancient text has been discovered with even a quotation from the alleged books for July through December (books 7 to 12).In 1504 the eccentric humanist and classical text collector Conrad Celtes claimed to have discovered the missing books in a German monastery.He wrote a letter about the books to the Venetian publisher Aldus Manutius, who insisted on seeing them himself before signing a contract.