EPICTETUS. Epicteti Manuale et Sententiae. Quibus accedunt Tabula Cebetis, & alia affinis argumenti, in linguam Latinam conversa a Marco Meibomio. Subjiciuntur eiusdem notae, emendationes Claudii Salmasii in Epictetum, notae illorum & alius viri docti in Dissertationes Epicteti ab Arriano digestas, & varians scriptura codicum manu exaratorum, cura Hadriani Relandi. Utrecht (Trajecti Batavorum), Ex officina Gulielmi Broedelet, bibliopolae, 1711. 4to. 3 parts in 1: (XX),151,(1);124; 152,(59 index),(1 blank) p. Calf. 21 cm (Ref: STCN ppn 185671004; Oldfather no. 287; Hoffmann 2,15; Didbin 2,515/6: 'The edition is a valuable and critical one'; Ebert 6775; Brunet 2,1012/13; Graesse 2,484; P.A. Hansen, 'A bibliography of Danish contributions to classical scholarship from the 16th century to 1970', Copenhagen 1977, no. 363) (Details: Back gilt and with 5 raised bands. Title printed in red and black. Woodcut printer's mark on the title, depicting Athena and Hermes, motto: 'Suum cuique tribue'. Woodcut initials. Greek text with facing Latin translation. Last 152 pages are filled with the notes of Meiboom (1-32), the notes and emendations of the Enchiridium by Salmasius (33-48), notes and emendations by Meiboom and Salmasius 'in Arriani Epictetum' (49-98), variae lectiones (99-136), and an 'Accessio ad emendationes Meibomianas in Dissertationes Epicteteas Arriani' (137-152). The last 4 pages of the preliminary leaves are, owing to a binder's error, to be found in the last gathering of the book. § 'Alius' in the title is an old genitive form, with a long i) (Condition: Cover scuffed; back rubbed; corners bumped; front joint starting to split; head & tail of the spine chafed; bookplate on front pastedown) (Note: There is something odd about this title. Half of the book is printed carefully with the use of beautiful Greek and Roman type, and is presented in a balanced layout. The woodcut initials are sharp and elegant. The other half of the book is printed on paper of somewhat lesser quality, with the use of dull and conventional Greek and Roman type. The woodcut initials are quite common and worn. This difference has its story, and reflects the life and character of its main contributor, Marcus Meibom. The 'fine' half was printed in Copenhagen, about 40 years earlier than the other half, which was printed in Utrecht in 1711. § The Danish philologist Marcus Meibom, or Marcus Meibomius, was born in 1630 in Tönning in Schleswig-Holstein. He was a scholar with a bad temper and a lot of ennemies. After a turbulent life he died poor in Utrecht in 1710 or 1711. He was 'one of those colourful people who, despite numerous initiatives, was unable to ascend in the Republic of Letters. He had achieved some fame with an edition of seven classical authors on music, which he dedicated to Queen Christina of Sweden, and for which he received an invitation to her court in return. He himself had reconstructed instruments from antiquity, with which he tried to put on a concert (for the court of the Queen); unfortunately, the performance generated only hilarity and ended in turmoil. Frustrated Meiboom then attacked a friend of the Queen, which forced him to leave'. (D. van Miert, 'Humanism in an age of science: the Amsterdam Athenaeum in the Golden Age, 1632-1704', Leiden 2009, p. 88) Meibom treated everyone crudely and could never restrain his arrogance. The Dutch gentleman/scholar Nicolaas Heinsius called him a 'hungry rogue' and an 'ungrateful person'. (D. van Miert p. 89) In 1653 Meibom left Sweden, and entered into the service of king Frederic III of Denmark. He was made royal librarian and professor at Uppsala the next year. (Michaud, 'Biographie Universelle', Vol. 28, Lpz., 1843, p. 520/1) In 1668 he accepted a position at the Athenaeum Illustre at Amsterdam, to give public lectures and private tuition, with a salary of 1200 guilders a year. One year later, in 1670, he was fired. The reason was that, as Burmannus reports in a letter, 'Meiboom had turned up his nose at the obligation to give private tuition to the sons of the bourgomasters'. (D. van Miert, p. 90) 'Meiboom next dedicated himself to the military shipping trade. He reviewed a book on this subject by Johan Scheffer, and wrote a book himself on antique triremes, with which he left for England to convince Charles II that these antique vessels would give him supremacy at sea'. (D. van Miert, p. 91) Of course this untertaking was not successful. He also tried to sell his project to the French, but found no one interested. His next great project in England in 1674 was the publishing of the Old Testament with his remarks on the Hebrew text, of which he wanted to correct numerous passages. He shocked the English and had to return to Holland poorer than ever. Nevertheless he possessed some very valubable ancient manuscripts, which he did not want to sell. He died in Utrecht, where his heirs found the unfinished edition of Epictetus, printed ca. 40 years before, which they sold to the publisher Broedelet. He asked Hadrianus Relandus to finish it. § The part of Meibom opens with the Greek text with facing Latin translation of the Enchiridion, then follow the 'Epicteti Sententiae ex Joanne Stobaeo, Graece & Latine', the 'Cebetis Thebani Tabula, Graece & Latine', and 'Prodicus de Hercule, ex Xenophontis Memorabilium libro IIdo (secundo) Joa. Leunclavio interprete', a allegoric story about Hercules on the crossroads, where he has to choose between Virtue and Vice. Meibom finished with 'Hippocratis Epistola' to Damagetus, a long letter concerning the madness of the 'laughing philosopher' Democritus. This letter is a founding text in the history of melancholy. Relandus tells the reader in the preface that while he was working on this edition he stumbled upon a traesure (thesaurum), an Epictetus edition dated 1595 (Oldfather 15) from the library of Meibom, in the margins of which the French scholar Claude de Saumaise, or Claudius Salmasius, 1588-1653, had jotted down corrections and emendations to the Enchiridion. (General preface leaf *2, and preface to the notes of Salmasius, p. 37/38) Salmasius was in Leyden the successor of Scaliger, and a prolific author and textual critic. He had produced once an Enchiridium edition himself. (Amsterdam, 1640) § Michaud tells about Meibom's part of this Enchiridion edition that the 'roi de Danemarck fit imprimer cet ouvrage à ses frais, et fit présent de la totalité de l'édition à Meibom, qui la garda plus de quarante ans dans son cabinet'. (Michaud, vol. 28 p. 521) The quality of the printing of Meibom's part of the book seems to affirm the story of Michaud, still the question remains why Meibom had transported heavy barrels full of quality printing to Amsterdam in 1668/69, and forgot about it for the next 40 years? Boter follows the suggestion of Schweighaeuser in his edition of 1798, (Schweighaeuser, Lpz. 1798, p. LIXV) and argues that Meibom did not think his own work worthy of publication. (G. Boter, 'The Encheiridion of Epictetus and its three christian adaptations', Leiden 1999, p. 78) This seems hard to believe with regard to such an arrogant and headstrong character. He was very much convinced of his own genius. Graevius wrote in a letter to N. Heinsius that Meibom considered himself a better philologist than Isaac Casaubon, Carlo Sigonio, Gronovius and Salmasius. (D. van Miert, p. 91) Modesty and humility were not his strongest points. The flaws in the character of this (manic?) man, who led a tumultuous life, might be the cause of the abandonment of the project. Moreover, when Meibon arrived in Amsterdam, and would have asked around in 1669 if someone was interested in publishing his Epictetus' Enchiridium, he would have heard that in Amsterdam the publishers Boom and Ravestein were already busy producing an edition for 1670, as did the Van Gaasbeek brothers. Anyway, Meibom's heirs sold part of his possessions, including the barrels filled with plano sheats of a book which had never been published. The first page of the collection simply said 'Epicteti Manuale, Graece & Latine'. The load of paper was bought by the publisher Broedelet, who asked the Dutch scholar Hadrianus Relandus, for whom he had published several titles, to write an introduction and to produce some commentary, and an index. 'Relandus did his best, he wrote introductions to the different parts, added the notes of Meibom and Salmasius, which he had found among Meibom's papers and in the margins of some of his books. He added also collations of two manuscripts, the 'codex Hafniensis' (p. 101-119 of the second part), and the 'codex Gerdesianus' (p. 120-136 of the second part). That Meibom did a good job was already noted in 1711 in the periodical 'Acta Eruditorum. 'Haec editio est accurata, & a mendis typographicis pura, literis elegantibus & majoribus impressa'. (Acta Eruditorum, 1711, p. 374) Furthermore, Schweighaeuser dedicates almost seven of his preliminary pages of his famous 1798 edition of the Enchiridium to this work of Meibomius/Relandus. And G. Boter deems Meibomius/Relandus worthy of incorporating them in the short list of 'Studiosi in apparatu critico laudati' of his edition of the Enchiridium, published in the normative 'Bibliotheca Teubneriana' series, Berlin 2007. Adrianus Reland, or Hadrianus Relandus, 1676-1718, was a child prodigy. At 13 he enrolled as a student at the University of Utrecht, where he studied philosophy, classics and oriental languages. In 1700 he was appointed professor of Oriental languages and Holy Antiquities. This 'jewel' of the university remained in Utrecht till his untimely death at the age of 41. He didnot publish much on Oriental languages, but wrote some influential works on Hebrew antiquities, the 'Antiquitates sacrae veterum Hebraeorum' (1708 & 1712, publisher Broedelet), and 'Palestina ex monumentis veteribus illustrata', (1714, publisher Broedelet). His best known work seems to be 'De religione mohammedica' (1705, publisher Broedelet), which was reissued several times, and was translated into several languages. In this work he broke new ground with an honest and correct approach of this religion. As a consequence the Vatican placed it on the Index of forbidden books) (Provenance: On the front pastedown the remains of a woodcut bookplate. The lower part with the name of the owner has been removed. It shows the Royal arms of the United Kingdom, as used by the Hanover dynasty between 1714 and 1800, during the reign of King George I, II & III. (See Wikipedia, s.v. 'Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom') The shield is oval, and rests on a pedestal. Around the oval a belt with the motto of the Order of the Garter 'Honi soit qui mal y pense'. The oval is surmounted with a royal crown. Before the pedestal a banner with the motto of the English monarchs 'Dieu et mon droit'. Right of the shield the Unicorn, and left a crowned lion. (There is no royal helm beneath the crown) The bookplate is probably of a royal or of a library of a public institution, and dates from before 1800) (Collation: *-2*4, A-T4, 2A-2P4, 2Q2. A-R4, *S4-*T4, S-2A4, 2B4 (leaf 2B2 verso blank, the second and third leaf of the last gathering 2B are signed 3*1 and 3*2; these 2 leaves ought to have been cut out and bound after leaf 2*4; we once sold another copy of this book, and it showed the same binder's error)) (Photographs on request)
Book number: 130463 Euro 390.00

Keywords: (Oude Druk), (Rare Books), Altertum, Altertumswissenschaft, Antike, Antiquity, Cebes, Cebetis Tabula, Dutch imprints, Epictetus, Epiktet, Greek literature, Greek text, Griechische Literatur, Kebes, Latin translation, Meibom, Meibomius, Meiboom, Philosophie, Salmasius, Saumaise, classical philology, philosophy