[ESTIENNE, Henri]

Lot 302
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Estimation :
30000 - 40000 EUR
[ESTIENNE, Henri]
Poetae Graeci Prinipes heroici carminis & alii nonnulli. Without place [Geneva], Henri Estienne, 1566. 2 parts in one volume in-folio (353 x 212 mm) of 20, LXII, 410 pp. 2 ff.n.ch., pp. 411-781, 1 f.n.ch. blank, LVI pp. (misquoted LVII), 489 pp. 1 blank f.n.ch. Red morocco, triple gilt fillet on the boards, spine decorated, interior roulette, gilt edges (Derome le jeune, with his label). Renouard, Estienne, 126:5; Schreiber, 160. Henri Estienne's masterpiece. First edition printed by Henri Estienne of this collection of classical Greek texts. This monumental edition is considered one of the typographic masterpieces produced by this famous workshop. In 1566, on the occasion of the spring fair in Frankfurt, Henri Estienne offered for sale the most beautiful book he had ever printed. These were two majestic folio volumes which are considered to be his typographical masterpieces. They are composed in the large typeface of the 'grecs du roi', characters engraved by Claude Garamond according to the models provided by the Cretan calligrapher Ange Vergèce. They are, without doubt, the most beautiful Greek characters that have ever been engraved. A monument of literary Humanism. The first part is dedicated to the poems of Homer that Estienne arranged according to the study of 19 previous editions; this critical edition remained the model for all the following editions until the 19th century. The second part is devoted to the texts of Hesiod, Orpheus, Callimachus, Theocritus, Bion, Moschus, Aratus, Nicander-Musaeus, Pythagoras. It contains in an editio princeps the fragments of the Greek poets Solon, Turtaeus and Mimnerus. "Henri Estienne's monumental collection of the Greek poets sumptuously printed in the two large sizes of the 'grecs du roi'. This is unquestionably Henri Estienne's typographic masterpiece, of which copies in fine condition are difficult to come by. The first part is devoted to the Homeric poems; by collating 18 previous printed editions, Henri Estienne succeeded in establishing a critical text of Homer which remained standard until the 19th century... In this work Henri Estienne has employed his personal diacritical notations, which he devised for this volume and for his edition of the Anthology. At the end of the first part, he added 56 pages of Annotationes" (Schreiber). Renouard's copy bound in red morocco by Derome. A very fine copy, having belonged to the bibliophile, bibliographer and collector Renouard who noted on the flyleaf: "One of the most beautiful monuments of erudition & typographical skill combined. H. Estienne has consulted with as much sagacity as attention all the previous editions of these various poets, & especially for Homer, of which he has published such a superior text that for many years most publishers have not looked for a better copy". Provenance : A.A. Renouard (autograph note) - Leigh (19th century English ex-libris)
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