PROPERTIUS. Sex. Aurelii Propertii Elegiarum libri quatuor. Ad fidem veterum membranarum curis secundis Jani Broukhusii sedulo castigati. Accedunt terni indices, quorum primus omnes voces Propertianas complectitur. Amsterdam (Amstelaedami), Apud Rod. & Gerh. Wetstenios, 1727. 4to. (XXXII, including the frontispiece), 489,(1),(109 indices),(1 blank) p. Contemporary calf. 24 cm (Ref: STCN ppn 18661859X; Schweiger 2,830; Dibdin 1,384: 'very valuable'; Moss 1,274: 'A good edition, containing a valuable and useful commentary'; Graesse 5,460: 'belle édition'; Ebert 18028; Brunet 4,904/05: 'Édition assez recherchée'; Fabricius/Ernesti 1,435) (Details: Back gilt and with 5 raised bands. Brown morocco shield in the second compartment. Frontispiece designed and executed by J. Mulder, it depicts a Roman Emperor in a chariot; he is leading a triumph; in front of him the wives of his conquered ennemies with their hands bound behind their backs; in the background a triumphal arch and the monumental grave of Augustus. Title printed in red & black. On it the engraved printer's device, it depicts a burin being sharpened on a whetstone (Wetstein!), around it the device: 'Terar dum prosim'. At the beginning of the 'dedicatio' the engraved coat of arms of Stephanus Hurgronje) (Condition: Some slight wear to the extremities of the binding. First gathering slightly yellowing) (Note: The young equestrian Sextus Propertius, born ca. 50 B.C., is one of the most fascinating Roman love poets. His surviving work consists of four books of 'Elegiae', containing 4046 lines of elegiac verse. His poetry, at times obscure, learned and eccentric, can be witty, shows dramatic power, and combines polish and refinement. § From the Renaissance onward Propertius formed part of a triumvirate of Latin erotic poets, together with Catullus and Tibullus. They were already united in one edition published in Venice in 1472. The list of combined editions of these 3 is huge. A fashion for imitating them arose. Many humanist elegiac poets produced poems addressed to some alluring girl, as Propertius had done for his Cynthia. Propertius influenced among others the Dutch erotic poet Janus Secundus, the English poet John Donne and the German author Goethe. Wellknown is Ezra Pound's 'Homage to Sextus Propertius' (1917). § This 1727 edition of Propertius is a revised edition of the edition of 1702. The first edition was produced by the Dutch scholar/soldier Joan van Broekhuizen (Janus Broukhusius), 1649-1707, who during an adventurous life pursued his classical studies and poetry at leisure. As a neolatin poet he is known as the 'Propertius of Holland'. (Sandys 2,329) In 1684 he published his 'Carmina', a collection of his Neolatin poetry. (Utrecht 1684) His editions of Propertius (1702) and Tibullus (1707) laid the foundation for his reputation as a classical scholar. He was admired as a latinist, for his taste and for his erudition. (NNBW 4,309/12) This second edition was produced by the Dutch scholar and minor poet Pieter Vlaming, 1686-1733. In the preface (L.B., Lectori Benevolo) Vlaming tells us that he once bought at the auction of the library of the Dutch classical scholar and schoolmaster David Hoogstraten a 'codex' (manuscript), filled with annotations from the hand of Broukhusius, which he apparantly had been collecting for a projected second edition of Propertius. Nothing came however of such an edition. (Hoogstraten died 1724) Now, at the request of the publishers Wetstein, Vlaming produced a new revised and augmented edition of Propertius. 'Nihil dedimus nisi mere Broukhusianum'. (p. **3 recto) One year later, in 1728, and 21 years of the death of Broukhusius, Vlaming published also Broukhusius' edition of the 'Opera omnia' of the Italian neolatin poet Sannazarius/Sannazaro) (Provenance: On the front flyleaf 2 small names: ''Margadant 1912', and 'F.J. Brevet 1914'. § The first name must be of the Dutch man of letters Steven Willem Floris Margadant, born in The Hague in 1887; he died in 1946. In 1929 he published 'De psychologie van het Grieksche werkwoord'. ('Persoonlijkheden in het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in woord en beeld', Amsterdam 1938, p. 979) § The next owner, the jurist Frederik Jacobus Brevet, 1893-1983, was a businessman and also a man of letters. In 1958 he published a translation of 16 odes and an epode of Horace. In 1966 followed a more varied collection, 'Mozaïek', which contained, besides more translations of Horace, also Catullus, a number of poems from the 'Carmina Burana', and from Greek poet Meleager, and poetry of his own. In 1978 appeared a translation of all 103 odes of Horace. From 1952 till the end his life he contributed a great many articles on classical culture to the periodical Hermeneus of the Dutch Classical Society (NKV). He bought this book at the age of 21 when he was studying law in Leiden) (resources.huygens.knaw.nl/bwn1880-2000/lemmata/bwn3/brevet)) (Collation: *-4*4; A-4F4 (leaf 2F4 verso blank)) (Photographs on request)
Book number: 140037 Euro 340.00

Keywords: (Rare Books), Dutch imprints, antike altertum antiquity, elegiae