TERENTIUS. P. Terentii Carthaginiensis Afri Comoediae sex. Interpretatione & notis illustravit Nicolaus Camus, Juris Utriusque Doctor, jussu Christianissimi Regis in usum Serenissimi Delphini. Editio prioribus longe emaculatior. London (Londoni), Impensis J. Pote (et alii), 1776. 8vo. (VI),CXXXVIII,288,(80 index) p. Calf 21 cm (Ref: ESTC Citation No. T219687; Schweiger 2,1070; cf Brunet 5,716; Graesse 6/2,59; Ebert 22513; Cupaiuolo no. 946; La collection Ad usum Delphini, vol. 2,51/61; Spoelder p. 644, Middelburg 5) (Details: Prize copy, without the prize. Back ruled gilt. Red morocco shield on the 'second compartment'. Gilt coat of arms of Middelburg on both boards. Title in red & black. Terence's Latin text is surrounded with an easy Latin version and with annotations, and is preceded by 138 pages of 'prolegomena Terentiana') (Condition: Prize removed. Binding slightly rubbed, especially at the extremities. Some small and very faint waterstains at the margin of 10 p. Name cut from upper corner of the front flyleaf) (Note: The 6 plays of Terentius, second century B.C, remained from antiquity through the Middle Ages, and in later centuries an example of style, and a rich source for moral sentences. In the 15th and 17th century his plays were frequently staged in schools. § This London edition of 1776 is a reissue of the 1688 London version of Terence's comedies from the Delphin series ('Ad usum Delphini), edited by Nicolas Camus (1610-1677) and originally published in Paris in 1675. In the dedication we are told that Terentius was the favorite author of the young prince Louis of France, and that he could find in this edition, besides the elegance of the Latin language, examples of the noble customs and the wisdom of the Romans. Louis of France was born in 1661 as the eldest son of Louis XIV, King of France. His title was, as the heir apparent to the throne, Dauphin (Delphinus). (As he died before his father, he never became king) This 'Ad usum Delphini' edition was a tremendous success, especially in England. In the English Short Title Catalogue we found till 1800 no less than 17 editions. 'Nous avons ici une édition de Térence de bonne qualité, où le plus gros effort est fait au niveau du choix des pièces liminaires (prolegomena Terentiana) et de l'annotation'. (La collection Ad usum Delphini p. 57) § The Roman playwright Publius Terentius Afer, ca. 190-159 B.C., was born in the Roman province Africa and came as a slave in the houshold of the senator Terentius Lucanus. He adopted his name when he was manumitted. Terentius is the author of 'fabulae palliatae', which means 'plays in Greek cloths'. He adapted Greek plays, especially those of the Greek playwright Menander, to the taste of the Romans. Six of his comedies have survived. For later generations he became a model for elegant Latin. His style was closer to everyday conversation than Plautus, an earlier contemporary comic playwright, whose style was more extravagant. He was quoted by Cicero, Horace, Persius and the Church Fathers. Ever since antiquity he lived also a long and influential life in schools as a model for Latin language and rhetoric. In the Middle Ages Terentius was read for his moral sentences. He was imitated by the German abbess Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, ca. 935 - ca. 973 in her 'Dramenbuch', with which she wanted to create a Christian alternative for the pagan comedies. With the coming of humanism Terentius enjoyed a renaissance in the classroom and on stage. Scholars rejected the 'barbaries' of Medieval Latin and chose the elegance of Cicero and Terentius as their model. In his 'De ratione studii' (1511) the Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus, 1466-1536, encouraged the study of Terentius, whom he thought congenial to youth. Thus they could master a pure Latin style, and learn at the same time good morals. Erasmus seems to have learned the whole of Terentius by heart in his youth. He admired the author for his 'latinitas' and his civilized humor. His ideal as a humanist and pedagogue was the creation of better men with the help of the classics. Several Dutch humanists wrote 'Dialogi pueriles', fictitious dialogues to train schoolboys to converse in Latin, conversations which much Terentius in it. § Erasmus held the opinion, that schoolboys should read the edifying comedies of Terentius over and over again. So did also the Dutch Jewish philosopher Spinoza. He must have studied his Terentius very thoroughly. In his work hundreds of quotations and borrowings from Terentius can be traced. Spinoza used them to define and illustrate human feelings, weaknesses and passions. (F. Akkerman, Spinoza's tekort aan woorden, Leiden, 1977, p. 3)) (Provenance: In ink on front flyleaf: 'A.A.L. Rouyer'. In the 'Verslagen uitgebracht door de Commissie voor Verzoekschriften' of the 'Tweede Kamer', 33rd meeting of 24 december 1902, we found in a report of this Committee that the mother of one 'A.A.L.J. Rouyer' appealed to the Committee to grant her son, who had served as a minister of the protestant church in the Dutch Indies, and who was removed honorably from his office because of insanity, a pension. According to the rules his time spent in the Indies was just too short for a pension. She asks for lenience, for se does not have the means to pay for proper care her son who was looked after in the mental institution Veldwijk in Ermelo. The Committee sent her petition to the Minister of Colonial Affairs, with the remark that this Department was to receive for the year 1903 funds for this kind of cases) (Collation: A-2I8) (Photographs on request)
Book number: 130361 Euro 220.00

Keywords: (Oude Druk), (Rare Books), Altertum, Altertumswissenschaft, Altphilologie, Antike, Antiquity, Dauphin, English imprints, Komödie, Latin literature, Prize copy, Prize copy Middelburg, Terentius, Terenz, classical philology, comedy, in usum Delphini, römische Literatur