Aristophanis facetissimi Comoediae undecim. Comoediarum catalogum versa pagella indicabit.

(Racine.) Aristophanes.

Aristophanis facetissimi Comoediae undecim. Comoediarum catalogum versa pagella indicabit.

[bound with:] Gorris (Jean de) Scholia an nymou tinos syggraphe s, palaia te kai chr sima eis ta tou Nikandrou Th riaca (Paris, Guillaume Morel, 1557) [and:] Nikandrou Th riaca (Morel, 1557)

Description: 3 works in 1 vol.; Aristophanes: 11 parts in 1, individual titles but continuous pagination, collation: a-t4 u6 x-z4 &4 Aa4 Bb6 Cc-Zz4 &&4 AA-JJ4 KK6 LL-YY4, titles in Greek and Latin with woodcut printer's device, text in Greek, woodcut decorative initials, Bb6, Hh4, KK6 and QQ4 woodcut printer's device verso otherwise blank, some extensive 17th- century ink annotation (see below), some pages hand-ruled in red or black; lacking KK3 & 4; general title and following leaves foxed and lightly toned; Gorris: collation: Aa-Ii4, title in Greek and Latin, woodcut basilisk device, text in Greek, woodcut headpiece and decorative initials, a few small wormholes in text; between these is bound another 1557 Morel edition of Nikandrou (defective); overall a few short marginal nicks, some water-staining, lightly browned, but sound, pp. 567, [1], [2], 172; 80, 4to, seventeenth-century polished speckled calf, triple blind rule at board edges, spine gilt in compartments on five raised bands, red morocco label, marbled endpapers; a little scuffed, loss of leather at the upper hinge but holding firm, housed in a modern cloth drop-back box, spine with light green morocco label

Publication Details: Paris: André Wechel, 1557

Notes: A sixteenth-century edition of the works of Aristophanes, in a copy owned by celebrated seventeenth-century playwright Jean Racine (1639-1699). As Nathan Gross has shown, thanks to his training at Port-Royal and his enthusiasm for the original texts, Racine developed an excellent working knowledge of Greek. As a giant of the classical tradition, he was certainly familiar with Aristophanes; his Les Plaideurs is a reworking of Aristophanes' Sph kes (Wasps) albeit without the political dimension. Aristophanes 'inspired Racine to compose for the comic stage. He found, under the Greek writer's inf...moreA sixteenth-century edition of the works of Aristophanes, in a copy owned by celebrated seventeenth-century playwright Jean Racine (1639-1699). As Nathan Gross has shown, thanks to his training at Port-Royal and his enthusiasm for the original texts, Racine developed an excellent working knowledge of Greek. As a giant of the classical tradition, he was certainly familiar with Aristophanes; his Les Plaideurs is a reworking of Aristophanes' Sph kes (Wasps) albeit without the political dimension. Aristophanes 'inspired Racine to compose for the comic stage. He found, under the Greek writer's influence, that he could write for the Italians and for the French Hôtel de Bourgogne in a comic vein. Racine does not indicate that he read the Wasps with any previous idea of imitating it, nor that he intended at the time to write a comedy satirizing the law courts; to be sure, "quand je lus les Guepes d'Aristophane, je ne songeois guere que j'en dusse faire les Plaideurs"' (Gross, p. 210).As Paul Bonnefon wrote in his 1898 study of Racine's library, 'Il est également certain que Racine possédait plusieurs exemplaires d'Aristophane'. He cites the present volume, affirming Renouard's suggestion that the signature on the title is consistent with Racine's own hand. Indeed, we have seen other examples from Racine's library in which he marks the title-pages of his books in this unobtrusive manner. The extensive annotations to Plutus, a large part of Nephelai (The Clouds), and a few pages of Ekklesiazousai (The Assemblywomen) form a kind of gloss behind a hand-ruled framework, and are primarily lexicographical, commenting on Greek meaning and usage, but also referring to other classical works. These have been confirmed by experts at Sotheby's as being in the hand of Racine's eldest son, Jean-Baptiste Racine (1678-1747). It therefore seems likely that the volume was owned by Racine, and inherited/annotated by his son. See Paul Bonnefon, 'La Bibliothèque du Racine', Revue d'Histoire littéraire de la France, 5.2 (1898) pp. 169-219, p. 190 (IV); Nathan Gross, 'Racine's Debt to Aristophanes', Comparative Literature, 17.3 (1965) pp. 209–224. HIDE

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Price: £20,000

Subject: Classics

Published Date: 1557

Stock Number: 72644

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