PORPHYRIUS. PORPHURIOU PERI TOU EN TÊi ODUSSEIAi TÔN NUMPHÔN ANTROU. Porphyrius, De antro Nympharum. Graece cum Latina L. Holstenii versione. Graeca ad fidem editionum restituit, versionem C. Gesneri, & animadversiones suas adjecit R.M. van Goens Trajectinus. Praemissa est Dissertatio Homerica ad Porphyrium. Utrecht, (Traiecti ad Rhenum), Sumptibus Abrahami v. Paddenburg, 1765 4to. XXXIV,(2),XXXVI,122,8 p. Contemporary half calf 26.5 cm (Ref: STCN ppn 203268296; Hoffmann 3,284; Schweiger 1,274; Brunet 4,823/24; Ebert 17795; Graesse 5,415) (Details: Probably an Italian binding. Back gilt and with a red morocco shield. Title and the first leaf of the preliminaries, leaf chi1, and also L2 printed in red and black. Greek text followed by the Latin translation of Holstein, at the bottom of the page are the 'variae lectiones'. At the end has been added a second Latin translation, that of Conrad Gesner. A small text engraving on page 117) (Condition: Back slightly rubbed, its head very sligthtly damaged. Boards scuffed. Corners bumped. Some tiny wormholes in the right lower corner, not coming even close to the text. Paper age-toned) (Note: The author of this treatise on the Odyssean Cave of the Nymphs is the Greek scholar and philosopher Porphyrius (Porphyry), 232/3 - ca. 305 A.D., who was more a polymath than an original thinker. In his numerous treatises and commentaries he had the good habit of quoting his sources by name. He thus preserved many fragments of older learning. (OCD, 2nd ed. p. 864/65) Porphyrius was a student of Plotinus, whose Enneads he edited somewhere after 300. Most of his work is written from a Plotinian point of view. He produced also numerous philosophical commentaries on Plato, Aristotle, Theophrastus and Plotinus. His commentary on the Categories of Aristotle became a standard medieval textbook of logic. His philologic work include his 'Homeric Investigations', a landmark in the history of Homeric scholarship, and 'De antro Nympharum', a specimen of allegorizing interpretation, in which Porphyrius symbolically explains the passages in the 13th book of Homer's Odyssey on the Cave of the Nymphs. In this cave, situated on the island of Ithaca, Odysseus hid the treasures of the Phaeacians on his return home. (Od. XIII, 102-112, 361-365) The edition of 1765 opens, after a dedication to young prince William V, with a 'Dissertatio Homerica ad Porphyrium' by the Dutch classical scholar Rijklof Michaël van Goens, 1748-1810. The Greek text, which follows, is accompanied by 2 Latin translations. The first one, by the German philologist Lucas Holstein, or Holstenius, 1596-1642, is printed parallel to the Greek text. It was first published in 1630 in Rome, where he was librarian of the Vatican. At the end of the Greek text comes the second translation, made by the Swiss classical scholar Conrad Gesner, 1516-1565, which was first published in Zürich in 1542. After that translation follow the 'Collectanea ad Porphyrium De antro Nympharum' in which the editor Van Goens offers the Homeric text with the relevant scholia and commentaries and observations of Eustathius, Johannes Spondanus, Joshua Barnes, Madame Dacier, Alexander Pope, and among others Willem Canter, who declared that the complete Odyssey was an allegory of man searching for wisdom and happiness, which he only could reach through death, for Odysseus' sleep on board of the Phaeacian ship that brought him home must be understood as a stay in death. (p. 81) At the end we find 38 pages filled with observations and commentary by Van Goens himself. Van Goens was a precocious polymath. He matriculated at the age of 12, and only 18 years old he succeeded his professor at the University of Utrecht, Peter Wesseling. He had to quit his chair in 1776 because he had made himself impossible. He went into Utrecht politics, made more ennemies, and left his country disappointed in 1786. His principal work is his edition of Porphyrius of 1765. He does not agree with the allegorical explanations of Porphyrius and Dacier, which he calls 'nugae'. Such trifles only made the Odyssean passage incomprehensible, instead of clear. Van Goens wants instead to shed light on the beauty of Homer's description of the cave. (Praefatio p. (XXII)) His aim is not textcritical, but more philosophical (Epistola p. IV). Porphyrius explains the cave of the Nymphes and her double entrance as a profound allegory of the journey of the soul on it ways to and from its origin. (p. 23) The cave symbolises the material world into which the human soul has descended. The darkness in it stands for the unseen powers of the material world. Porphyrius discusses the famous cavern of Plato, refers to Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Mozes, Zoroaster, Stoics, and the Egyptians, and construes with bold imagination and wondrous combinations an allegoric explanation. In his 'Animadversiones ad Porphyrium de Antro Nympharum' (p. 85-122) Van Goens investigates, in order to explain the interesting passages in the work of Porphyrius, thoroughly and with a marvelous erudition old and new authors. He seems to plunder a whole library, from Plato to Spinoza, from the New Testament to Leibniz, to prove his point) (Provenance: Bookplate on the front pastedown, depicting the coat of arms of the Vargas Macciucca family, with surrounding text: 'ex bibliotheca illris Ducis Thomae Vargas Macciucca'; on the recto of the first flyleaf has been pasted a leaf with a set of house rules which the Duke prescribed himself and others using or lending books from his library. The Italian noble Vargas Macciucia, or Vargas Machuca family is of Spanish, or rather Gothic origin. It dates back to the 8th century. By a degree of king Alfonso XI of 1267 the family has the privilege to bear the royal arms of Castiglia e Leon, which are also depicted on the bookplate. In the middle of the 17th century the family took root in the South of Italy under king Philip IV, who was also king of Naples. The 19th generation Vargas was Tommaso (or Tommasso) de Vargas Machuca (Thomas Vargas Macciucca), who was gouvernor of Capua. In 1732 he was created 'Duca de Vargas Machuca'. In 1748 the family lived in the monumental palace 'Real Monte di Manso' in Naples. He died in 1775. (See for this family: nobili-napoletani.it/Vargas_Macchucca.htm) (Collation: +-4+4, 5+1; *-4*4, 5*2, chi1, A-Q4, R2 (chi1 is originally 5+2. This leaf has been replaced according to the instructions for the binder)) (Photographs on request)
Book number: 140036 Euro 375.00

Keywords: (Rare Books), Altertum, Altertum, Altertumswissenschaft, Antike, Antiquity, Dutch imprints, Greek literature, Greek text, Griechische Literatur, Grotte der Nymphen, Homer, Homeros, Homerus, Latin translation, Odyssea, Odysseus, Odyssey, Philosophie, Van Goens, Van Paddenburg, cave, cavern of the nymphs, classical philology, philosophy