ATHÉNÉE. - Lot 261

Lot n° 261
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1500 - 2000 EUR
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Result : 1 011EUR
ATHÉNÉE. - Lot 261
ATHÉNÉE. The Fifteen Books of the Deipnosophists of Athens. Paris, Jacques Langlois, 1680. In-4 of LXXII, 1090 pp., contemporary brown calf binding, spine decorated with filets, red edges. First edition of the first French translation of the Banquet des savants by Michel de Marolles. Portrait of Michel de Marolles engraved by Nanteuil. It is also the first translation into common language of this famous text, the work of Athenaeus, a grammarian born in Egypt during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, whose Greek princeps edition had been given by Aldus Manutius in Venice in 1514. A treasure of erudition, the Banquet of Scholars," is a rich, varied, dazzling encyclopedia of antiquity. Athenaeus tells her friend Timocrates all that was said at the table of the rich Larentius who received the most famous artists, writers and scholars. It is also a true treatise on gastronomy, with first-rate information on the table customs of the Ancients, food, menus, dishes and wine. The digressions that the guests indulge in make the whole of ancient society pass before our eyes. There are extracts from 800 pieces, quotations from 1500 lost books and the names of 700 authors, most of whom would be unknown to us without him" (Oberlé). Very rare. The volume would have been printed only 25 copies, according to the dedicatory epistle. "Drawn in small numbers", according to Brunet. Very good copy. From the library of Georges Cuvier, with his stamp on the title. The famous founder of comparative anatomy and paleontology had a considerable library (some 17000 volumes) which, at his death, was bought by the State and paid into various public funds. The privilege sheet (a4) is missing. Restorations to the hinges, caps and corners.
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