SCALIGER,J.C. Iulii Caesaris Scaligeri viri clarissimi Poemata in duas partes divisa. Pleraque omnia in publicum iam primum prodeunt; reliqua vero quam ante emendatius edita sunt. Sophoclis Aiax Lorarius, stylo Tragico a Josepho Scaligero Iulii F. translatus. Eiusdem epigrammata quaedam, tum Graeca tum Latina, cum quibusdam e Graeco versis. N.pl. (Geneva), Apud Petrum Santandreanum (Pierre de Saint-André), 1591. 8vo. 3 parts in 1: (VIII),663,(1 blank); 336; 70,(1 errata),(1 blank) p. Calf, end 19th century. 17 cm (Ref: GLN-2264; USTC no. 450529; Smitskamp's 'The Scaliger collection' no. 147; cf. Brunet 5,179; cf. Graesse 6/289 & & 6,444; cf. Hoffmann 3,425; Ebert 20452) (Details: Nice binding. Gilt panelled back with 5 raised bands. Boards with triple fillet gilt borders and an oval gilt ornament. Edges of the boards and the turn-ins gilt. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. 'Veritas' woodcut printer's device on the title, depicting a woman, the naked truth, seated on a cubus, holding a radiant sun in her right hand. In her left hand she holds an opened book and a palm leaf. Her feet rest on the globe; the garland of fruit which surrounds her shows a motto in Greek: 'Alêtheia Pandamatôr', i.e. 'Allmighty Truth'. 2 red/yellow/blue book ribbons. § Printed in italics. Each of the 3 parts has a title-page of its own. Part 1 contains: Apiculae, p. 1; Nemesis, p. 59; Teretismata, Satyra, p. 76; Nova Epigrammata, p. 113; Farrago, p. 150; Thaumantia, p. 224; Arae Fracastoreae, p. 256; Nymphae indigenae, p. 272; Adamantij Catulli tumulus, p. 391; Heroes, p. 307; Archilochus, p. 339; Hipponax, p. 385; Sidera, p. 458; Lacrymae, p. 526; Aenigmata, p. 546; Urbes, p. 582; Logogriphi, p. 614; Manes Catulliani, p. 634. Part 2 contains: Ata, p. 3; Hymni, p. 79; Epidorpidum libri octo, p. 98; De Regnorum eversionibus, p. 324; Part 3 contains a Latin translation of the Ajax of Sophocles by the son of Julius Caesar, Josephus Justus Scaliger, and concludes with 20 pages epigrammata composed by junior) (Condition: Some slight wear to the binding. Oval stamp cut out of the first 2 title-pages, but skillfully repaired. In old ink 'Expurgata' written on the title page. Paper yellowing, sometimes browning. § Occasionally a word, or a line, or sometimes a complete poem has been made illegible with ink stripes by a censuring cleric. Scaliger's Poemata figured in the Catholic 'Index librorum prohibitorum'. This 'Index' of forbidden books contained publications that were banned by the Catholic Church, because they were deemed heretical, anti-clerical or immoral. The censoring sometimes came down to the erasing or cutting out of names, or passages, or the removal of leaves, even complete chapters by catholic librarians. Such a librarian must have written, after having completed the job, at the foot of the title-page, 'Expurgata') (Note: The classical scholar Julius Caesar Scaliger (Giulio Bordone della Scala), 1484-1558, was of Italian origin. In 1524 he moved to France where he became physician to bishop Antonio della Rovere of Agen, and where his brilliant son Joseph Juste was born in 1540, the same year in which his 'De causis linguae latinae libri tredecim' was published. This book is among his most important philological works. § Another work of fundamental importance is his 'Poetices libri septem' (1561), a manual for the apprentice poet, that became Europe's standard in matters of Neo-Latin poetry for two centuries. § Scaliger published collections of his Neo-Latin poetry in 1533 and 1546. He considered the mastery of Latin composition not as a pastime, but as the scholar's most valuable skill. In 1574 his son Joseph Juste (Josephus Justus) produced a new edition of his father's collected poems during his stay at Geneva, where he took refuge because of the French wars of religion and St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Here Scaliger jr. delivered public lectures and tutored students, and met fellow humanists, Beza, Henricus Stephanus et alii, all interested in or writing Neo-Latin poetry. § This edition of 1591 is a line by line reissue of the edition of 1574. To the edition of his father's poetry the son added a work of himself, the translation of Sophocles' Ajax. This translation was first published in 1573 in Paris with a Greek text and the translation on the facing page. The appropriate medium for the translation of the Ajax was in Scaliger's eyes archaic Latin. 'He used as many arcane or distinctively pre-classical words as possible (...). He dressed ordinary words in primitive spellings (...). And, like the archaic poets, he freely coined new compound words'. (Grafton,A., Joseph Scaliger, a study in the history of scholarship', volume 1, Oxford 1983, p. 114/115) After the Ajax Scaliger jr. added 20 pages with epigrammata, Greek and Latin, also of his own) (Provenance: Before the title have been bound 2 leaves, the first from 1890, the 2nd much older, after 1633. The text of the first manuscript leaf: 'Ce volume, que j'ai acheté aux libraires Mayer et Muller, de Berlin, était alors relié avec un exemplaire du Poemata de J. César Scaliger, de l'édition rarisssime de 1546. L'un et l'autre, ainsi réunis avaient appartenu à une Bibliothèque de Vérone (on le voit à la maculature laissée par le timbre, en tête de la 2e partie). L'un et l'autre portait les suppressions imposées par l'Index. - Voir, à ce sujet, la note italienne écrite ci après, probablement par un religieux du couvent dont la Bibliothèque possédait ces volumes. Dans l'éd. de 1546, beaucoup des pièces biffées ici n'avaient pas été supprimées. R. Dezeimeris, 1890.' § The French historian and politician Reinold Dezeimeris, was 'Conservateur' of the 'Bibliothèque municipale' of Bordeaux, and a passionate bibliophile, but most of all he is remembered for his scholarly activities. He devoted many studies to Renaissance authors from his dear city. He participated in an important edition of the 'Essais' of Montaigne, Bordeaux 1870-1873. § This title on offer of father and son Scaliger will have caught his attention, because of their connection with Bordeaux. On the authority of Dezeimeris, who must have had sharp eyes, we assume that the removed stamp from the first 2 title-pages belonged to a library at Verona. In the leaf immediately after the second title the dent of the stamp that was cut out of the title is indeed still visible, though hardly legible. (See for much more on Dezeimeris: rfhl.org/pages/historique/bibliophiles-bordelais/reinhold-dezeimeris-1835-1913.html and especially a biography at: saint-blaise-cadillac.eklablog.com/reinhold-dezeimeris-a46642037. § Scaliger pretended to be a descendant of the house of La Scala, for hundred and fifty years lords of Verona. § Dezeiremis apparantly split up the binding with works of Scaliger that he bought from the famous price-cutting Berlin 'Antiquariat Mayer & Müller'. This fine binding with Scaliger's Poemata of 1591 was probably commissioned by him. § The libarian who wrote 'Expurgata' on the title, probably also wrote the text on the leaf bound before the first flyleaf. It is in Italian, and refers to the decree of the Church for the prohibition of Scaliger's works, dated March 19, 1633) (Collation: *4, a-z8, A-S8, T4 (leaf T4 verso blank); Aa-Xx8; AA-DD8, EE4 (leaf EE4 verso blank))
Book number: 159151 Euro 900.00

Keywords: (Rare Books), Ajax, Dichtung, Greek literature, Griechische Literatur, Latin literature, Latin translation only, Poesie, Scaliger, Sophocles, Swiss imprints, antike altertum antiquity, poetry, römische Literatur