GRONOVIUS,J.F. Iohannis Frederici Gronovii Observationum libri III, ad Wilhelmum A.F.P.N.W.P. Vandermaerium I.C. (Bound with:) Censorinus, De die natali. Henric. Lindenbrogius recensuit, et notis iterata hac editione passim adauctis, illustravit. (And bound with:) Iohannis Frederici Gronovii De Sestertiis commentarius. Ad 1: Leiden (Lugduni Batavorum), Apud Isaacum Commelinum (typis W. Christiani), 1639. Ad 2: Leiden (Ludgduni Batavorum), Ex officina Ioannis Maire, 1642. Ad 3: Deventer (Daventriae), Typis Conradi Thomaei Typogr., 1643 8vo. 3 volumes in 1: (XXIV),279,(21 index); (XVI),250,(38 index); (XVI),135,(5 blank) p., (folding table with an astrological diagram in the Censorinus) Overlapping vellum 16 cm Gronovius' Observationes marked a considerable advance in the study of Latin prose (Ref: Ad 1: cf. Graesse 3,161. Ad 2: Breugelmans 1642,3, p. 490; Schweiger 2,101; cf. Graesse 2,101; Ebert 3909. Ad 3: cf. Brunet 29063; cf. Ebert 8961) (Details: Woodcut printer's mark on all 3 titles, the third of which depicts a Phoenix, that holds between its wings an opened book, with on the pages an Alpha and Omega, the motto reads Renovabitur. Short title in ink on the back. § The mysterious dedicatee on the title is most probably Willem van der Meer from Delft who matriculated in 1629 at the age of twenty in Leiden. This Willem might have been the son of the Councillor of the 'Hof van Holland', the 'High Court of Holland', Abraham Pietersz. van der Meer, member of the political elite of Delft, who died in 1638. (See 'Hugo de Groot, Briefwisseling van Hugo Grotius'. Deel 17, Den Haag 2001, p. 477). The son of Abraham, Willem van der Meer, 1613-1668, became a lawyer at the 'Hof van Holland'. The connection with Delft is confirmed by the provenance of a 15th century manuscript of Cicero's Epistulae ad Familiares (Cod. Guelf. 85. 11. Aug. fol., Katalognr: Heinemann-Nr. 2898) held in the Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel, and upon which is found the name: Wilhelmus A. F. P. N. W. P. van der Meer Delfensis. Prudentia et simplicitate'. We know also that Van der Meer was a jurist (I.C.). Gronovius mentions Vandermaerius in a letter to Nicolaas Heinsius, dated 30 november 1638. He writes that he and Vandermaerius have bought books at an auction. It is obvious that Heinsius knew him too. (Sylloges Epistolarum A Viris Illustribus Scriptarum Tomus III, 1727, Ep. 62) May we suggest the following solution for the initials: Abrahami Filius Petri Nepos Wilhelmi Pronepos. If this is right, then our Wilhelmus van der Meer, son of Abraham Pieterszoon van der Meer, and great-grandson of Wilhelmus Willemsz van Alcmaer, is indeed the dedicatee. (Compare for this kind of abbreviation Paullus Merula's subscription in several Alba Amicorum, where he signed Paullus G.F.P.N. Merula, i.e. Guilielmi Filius Paulli Nepos Merula) (See for the ancestry of Van der Meer Wikipedia: Van der Meer de Walcheren) ) (Condition: Cover dust-soiled & spotted. Small oval stamp on the front flyleaf. Right upper corner of a few leaves in De Sestertiis slightly wrinkled & soiled) (Note: Ad 1: The Dutch classicist of German origin Johann Friedrich Gronov, or Gronovius, 1611-1671, became in 1658 the successor of Daniel Heinsius on the Greek chair of the University of Leiden. He was influenced by Vossius, Grotius, Heinsius and Scriverius. His editions mark an epoch in the study of Livy, of Seneca, Tacitus & Gellius. His interest in textual criticism of Latin poetry was due to the discovery of the Florentine MS of the tragedies of Seneca. In his riper years 'the acumen exhibited in his handling of prose is also exemplified in his treatment of the text of poets such as Phaedrus and Martial, Seneca and Statius'. (Sandys, History of Classical Scholarship, 2,321) His collections with Observationes belong to his best works, they offer a dazzling number of erudite observations on Roman law and history, and brilliant emendations. After this Observationum libri III of 1639 Gronovius published in Deventer in 1652 his Observationum liber novus. And of the first three books of observations there appeared a second emendatior and auctior edition in 1662 (Leiden). The German philologist Fr. Platner combined the libri tres and the liber novus of Gronovius in 1755 (Leipzig). In the 19th century the German C.H. Frotscher added to these four books Gronovius' Observationum in scriptoribus ecclesiasticis monobiblos (1831), which he had published in 1651. The great classical scholar Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff argued that Gronovius surpassed without doubt Daniel Heinsius in scholarship. 'His Observationes marked a considerable advance in the study of Latin prose (...). The book is in the usual miscellany form; but his methodical treatment and his concentration on the single object of providing an introduction to the language of the period, hold the whole thing together. As recently as fifty years ago (1860th) German students were still urged to read him for themselves. At the same time he by no means neglected the subject matter of his authors and wrote successfully on the Roman coinage. (U. von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, History of classical scholarship, ed. H. Lloyd-Jones, London, 1982, p. 72) Ad 2: The Roman grammarian Censorinus lived in the first half of the third century A.D. Of him survives De die natali, dedicated to his patronus Q. Caerellius on his birthday in A.D. 238. The first part deals with the genetic and astrologic aspects of the date of birth, and furthermore numerical mysticism. The second with time and divisions. Its sources are Varro, Suetonius (De anno Romanorum), and several Greek authorities on procreation, embryology, botany and music. This work is valuable for its otherwise lost sources. The German scholar Heinrich Lindenbrog, 1570-1642, published in 1614 in Hamburg his first edition of Censorinus. A revised and augmented second edition was published in Leiden in 1642. Lindenbrog studied classics in Leiden under J.J. Scaliger. After his studies he made a tour which brought him and his friend Johannes van Wouweren to France, to the monastery of St. Victor. It was told that they stole there with the help of a monk 16 manuscripts. They became known as 'Les Corsaires de Hamburg'. He was arrested, but came free with the help of the French scholar Pierre Dupuy (Puteanus), the son of the humanist and bibliophile Claude Dupuy, who was a great collector of manuscripts. Little is known of the rest of Lindenbrog's life. From 1610 onward till his death, he was the librarian of Duke Johann Adolf von Holstein, who had assembled in Gottorp a great collection of books. He made his name as a philologist with this Censorinus edition. (ADB 18,693) Ad 3: Having studied at several universities and travelled in England, Holland, France and Italy, Johannes Fredericus Gronovius came in 1642 to the Dutch city Deventer, where he was appointed professor of rhetoric and history at the local Athenaeum Illustre. He didnot regret this modest step, for he married there the 22 years old Aleida Ten Nuyl, with whom he had a happy marriage and had seven children. In 1658 he left for Leiden. In 1643 he had published in Deventer his De sestertiis commentarius. Gronovius had more interests than editing, commenting and textual criticism. During his academic career he published also important works on numismatics and on money in the ancient world. In 1643 he published this De sestertiis commentarius. This small work later grew into Gronovius' famous De Sestertiis, seu subsecivorum pecuniae veteris Graecae & Romanae libri IV, which was first published in 1656. Gronovius is considered to be 'einer der Wegbereiter der Forschungen über das antike Münzwesen'. (NDB 7,127)) (Provenance: Stamp: 'Dr. A. Hinsbergs Bibliothek, Hinsberg'. In ink has been added in the stamp: 'Adolf', and 'No. 7724'. Dr. jur. Adolf Hinsberg, 1868-1933, lived at Unt. Lichtenplatzerstrasse 108 in Barmen, and was 'Rechtsanwalt' and 'Justizrat'. He must also have been a bibliophile considering the number in the stamp. He must have been a freethinker, for he was also involved in the feminist movement of the Wilhelmine period (1888-1918)) (Collation: Ad 1: *8, 2*4; A-T8 (minus blank leaves T7 & T8). Ad 2: ?8, A-S8, folding table between leaves F4 & F5). Ad 3: *8, A-H8, I6 (leaves I4 verso, I5 & I6 blank)) (Photographs on request)
Book number: 120356 Euro 1000.00

Keywords: (Oude Druk), (Rare Books), Antike, Censorinus, Gronovius, Latin literature, Numismatik, Sestertius, Textkritik, numismatics, römische Literatur, textual criticism