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22 - AESCHYLUS. Tragedies VII. S.l. [Geneva], Henri Estienne, 155…
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Estimate €600 - €800
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Description
AESCHYLUS. Tragedies VII. S.l. [Geneva], Henri Estienne, 1557. – POLEMON and HIMERIUS. Πολέμωνος Ἱμερίου, καὶ ἄλλων τινῶν μελέται. Polemonis, Himerii and certain others’ orations, published here for the first time. Ibid., 1567. 2 works in one quarto volume, ivory vellum, plain spine, black morocco title label, plain edges (late 18th-century binding). First complete edition of Aeschylus’s works in Greek. It contains the complete first edition of *Agamemnon*, ‘the greatest Aeschylean tragedy, and one of the greatest masterpieces of Western dramatic literature’ (Schreiber), the text of which had previously been truncated by two-thirds. The three previous editions of *Agamemnon*, published by Aldus in 1518, and by Robortel and Turnèbe in 1552, were incomplete and were amended by Henri Estienne thanks to verses discovered in the Codex Laurentianus F. in Pope Paul II’s library by the Hellenist scholar Pietro Vettori, who completed them on the basis of other manuscripts with the assistance of Bartolomeo Barbadoro and Girolamo Maeus. A very fine Greek edition by Henri Estienne, produced using two typefaces from the famous ‘Grecs du Roi’, engraved by Claude Garamond based on a model provided by the royal calligrapher Ange Vergèce, the matrices for which Henri Estienne had taken with him into exile in Geneva. Henri Estienne’s small engraved mark adorns the title page. Attached to this volume is the first edition of the discourses by the Greek orators Polémon and Himerius, published by Henri Estienne for use by schoolchildren. The text is printed entirely in Greek, with the exception of the introductory pieces, using a medium-sized typeface from the ‘Grecs du Roi’ typeface. The large Estienne mark adorns the title page. pp. 89–91 are bound after the title page, as in the Schreiber copy. A copy from the bequest of Pierre-Daniel Huet to the Jesuit professed house in Paris, with the handwritten bookplate ‘Domus profess. paris. Soc. [...]’ at the top of the title page and the printed notice ‘Ne extra hanc bibliothecam efferatur’. ‘Ex obedientiâ’, prohibiting the removal of the work from the library, pasted at the bottom. Two gaps in the paper, previously repaired without affecting the print, on the title page of the first volume; rare, scattered small foxing spots. Renouard, 116:15 and 130:4 – Schreiber, nos. 145 and 168.
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About the sale Fine antique books – A library in the Languedoc
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Auction time 10/20/2026 at 2:00 PM
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