ZOSIMUS. Zôsimou Komêtos kai Apophiskosunêgorou Historia Nea. Zosimi Comitis ex Advocato Fisci Historia Nova. Ex recensione Friderici Sylburgii, cum latina interpretatione Ioannis Leunclavii, et Notis Variorum, accurante Christophoro Cellario. Editio tertia. Jena (Ienae), Sumtu Io. Felic. Bielkii, 1729. 8vo. (XXXVIII),670,(34 index) p. Calf. 18 cm (Ref: Not yet in VD18; Hoffmann 3,625; Brunet 5,1542: 'texte (...) amélioré et accompagné de bonnes notes'; Ebert cf. 24268: an edition 'welche sich durch theilweise Verbesserung des Textes, durch Abtheilung in Capitel und durch gute Auswahl der frühern Noten empfiehlt'; Graesse 6/2,519) (Details: Back with 5 raised bands. Title in red & black. Printed in 2 columns, Greek text with parallel Latin translation, notes at the bottom of the page) (Condition: Binding scuffed. Small ink inscription on the front endpapers. Paper of half of the gatherings browning. 1 name and 1 small reference on the title. Small hole in leaf *5, with the loss of some text. We could not find out if this edition had a frontispiece or not) (Note: Zosimus, second half fifth century, wrote a Roman history in 6 books, up to 410 AD. He used good sources, and showed historical insight. The fall of Rome was caused, he thinks, by the neglect of the pagan gods. § The first Latin translation of Zosimus, made by the German classical scholar and orientalist Johannes Loewenklau (Leunclavius), 1541-1594, was published in Basel in 1576. The edition contained also Leunclavius' 'Apologia pro Zosimo adversus Evagrii, Nicephori Callisti et aliorum acerbas criminationes'. The translation was published even before the French printer/scholar Henricus Stephanus published for the first time a Greek text of the first 2 books of Zosimus' 'Nova Historia in his edition of Herodian, Paris 1581. The first complete Greek text was produced after 2 manuscripts by the German classical scholar Friedrich Sylburg, a friend of Leunclavius, accompanied by Leunclavius' Latin translation, Frankfurt 1590. Sandys holds Sylburg in high esteem: 'a thorough knowledge of Greek, considerable critical acumen, and an intelligent application of great powers of work were the characteristics of F. Sylburg'. Every one of his editions is distinguished by important corrections of the text. (Sandys 2,270) § The German scholar Christoph Cellarius, or Christoph Keller, 1638-1707, who was from 1693 Professor of Rhetoric and History at the newly established 'Friedrichs-Universität' at Halle, is best known for his works on grammar and style, on ancient history and the geography of the ancient world. (Sandys 2,369) In his edition of Zosimus, with usefull historical and geographical notes, he adopted also Leunclavius' 'Apologia pro Zosimo'. (Leaf *6-3*4 in this edition of 1729) Cellarius' Zosimus edition was first published in 1679 at Jena by the printer Bielkius, who also took care of a second reissue in 1713, and this 3rd reissue of 1729. A peculiar feature of this 3rd edition is that the gatherings A till O (p. 1-224) are exactly the same as the second edition; the rest of this book was apparantly typeset anew, and printed on better quality paper) (Provenance: On the title: 'Vollebregt, 8 Oct. 1925'. This is J.C. Vollebregt, who published in Amsterdam in 1929 a dissertation 'Symbola in novam Eunapii Vitarum editionem'. The Greek historian Eunapius was a contemporary of Zosimus. Vollebregt may have used this Zosimus for his dissertation. He was from 1943 till 1956 teacher the the Gymnasium Haganum in The Hague) (Collation: *-2*8 (minus blank leaf *8), 3*4; A-O8, P4, Q-2X8, 2Y6 (minus blank leaf 2Y6)) (Photographs on request)
Book number: 156228 Euro 260.00

Keywords: (Oude Druk), (Rare Books), Altertum, Antike, Antiquity, German imprints, Greek text, Latin translation, Leunclavius, Roman history, Spätantike, Sylburg, Zosimus, late antiquity, römische Geschichte