Skip to Content

EURIPIDES.

Rhesos (Rhesus) + Troades (The Trojan Women) + Bakchai (Bacchae) + Kyklops (Cyclops) + Herakleidai (Children of Heracles) + Helene (Helen) + Ion + Herakles Mainomenos (Hercules Furens / Heracles). - [EDITIO PRINCEPS OF 8 PLAYS BY EURIPIDES]

Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62271
Venice, Aldus, 1503. Small 8vo. A nice, simple, charming full vellum binding with handwritten title and number to spine. Binding with a bit of soiling, but overall lovely. First leaf with stamp of the Gottholdsche Bibliothek and restored with the lower blank part remade with paper pulp, extremely well done. Second leaf with a vague restoration to the lower part, presumably from the removal of a label. Apart from a bit of occasional brownspotting or thumb soiling, very nice and fresh. Early (16th or 17th century) ink marginalia in Greek and Latin to several leaves as well as ink markings in the margins. A few of the marginal notes, mostly to top and bottom, shaved. Later ink annotation (numbering) to inside of front board. Quire signatures partly supplied in early hand throughout. (190) ff. Last leaf with colophon on recto and Aldus' large printer's device to verso.

Extremely important first printings of eight of Euripides’ tragedies – including the Cyclops, which is the only fully extant example of the genre of satyr play -, the publication that ensured the survival of these seminal Greek dramas. In 1503, Aldus issued in Venice a breakthrough publication in two volumes of all the extant plays of Euripides. Four of these had been previously published (ca. 1495), the rest of the eighteen appeared in this two-volume publication for the first time. The first volume contained 10 plays, among them the four previously published ones, whereas the second volume contained 8 plays, all published here for the first time. We have here the second volume, in a lovely copy, of this seminally important edition, containing eight of Euripides’ plays printed for the first time. As Dibdin says, “[t]his is an Aldine publication, which, more frequently than any with which I am acquainted, is found in an imperfect or indifferent condition. The first copy of it on paper that I ever saw, and bound in the Grolier style, had only the first volume… Earl Spencer has a portion of the second volume uncut…” (Dibdin, I:528). The textual transmission of Euripides’ plays, from the 5th century BC, when they were first written, until the era of the printing press, was a largely haphazard process, and much of Euripides' work was lost or corrupted. It was due to Aldus’ immensely important undertaking that these dramas were preserved for posterity. His of the texts remained the most important until the 18th century. The title-page of volume one states that there are 17 plays altogether (including the four previously published), but in fact there were 18. Hercules Furens had only recently been discovered, and Aldus included it at the last minute, at the end of volume two. Electra does not appear in either of the volumes and was only printed for the first time in 1545. The book is beautifully printed in Greek type throughout, with the elegant typeface by Griffo. Each play is preceded by a half-title with the title in both Greek and Latin, whereas the text itself is only in Greek. Not only the contents of the book is of seminal importance to cultural history, so is the format itself. It is a prime example of the portable book ('libellus portatilis' or 'enchiridion') that would come to revolutionize leaning in the modern world and the reding habits of modern man. “It was Aldus Manutius’ editio princeps of the complete extant works of Euripides, printed in Venice in 1503, which established the most enduring model for Euripides in print. He returned to the familiar cursive, using the fourth instantiation of his innovative lower-case Greek type, which had premiered in his Sophocles the previous year. This had been simplified somewhat in comparison to previous versions, and was attractive, clear, and easy to read. Both the Sophocles and the Euripides formed part of one of Aldus’ most famous innovations: the classical library in the portable octavo format. The Aldine octavos were not necessarily cheaper than larger volumes; a catalogue from 1503 with Aldus’ manuscript additions including prices (dated to 1505) indicates that the two-volume Euripides sold for 1 ducat 3 lire, which H. George Fletcher estimates might be a week’s salary for a secretary or teacher, still a luxury item. But the smaller format took books out of the library and into the world; these texts, presented by themselves without learned commentaries, were aimed not at cloistered academics but at the educated gentleman, perhaps holding a political office, and the travelling scholar. Many of these editions are dedicated to teachers of Greek (including the Euripides, to Demetrius Chalcondyles), suggesting that Aldus also envisaged them playing a role in education. Where previously students had been reliant on what a lecturer told them about a text, now they were encouraged to have their own copies, as is reflected in the many references to students in the prefatory materials.” (Shakespeare and the Renaissance Reception of Euripides, p. 63). Lowry:142, 145, 152; Grolier:38 (erroneusly stating 198 ff. leaves instead of 190); Ahmanson-Murphy:69; Dibdin I:524-26; Renouard:43-44.
Address:
Silkegade 11
DK-1113 Copenhagen
Denmark
Phone:
CVR/VAT:
DK 16 89 50 16

Recently Added From Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S

Regras methódicas para se aprender a escreuer o…
More Photos
VENTURA DA SILVA, JOAQUIM JOSE.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62100
Lisboa, Officina de Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, 1803. Folio-oblong (365 x 255 mm). In contemporary half calf. Wear to extremies, upper part of spine with loss of leather. Ex-libris pasted on to pasted down front end-paper. With, primarily marginal, brownspotting throughout. Dampstain to inner margin and upper outer margin of last 10 ff. 32 ff. Rare first edition of the most celebrated Portuguese treatise on calligraphy. Joaquim José Ventura da Silva (1777–1849), regarded as one of Portugal's finest calligraphers and teachers of writing, composed this methodological guide to handwriting in which he combines a historical survey of scripts used in Portugal with practical instruction for teaching and learning penmanship.Ventura da Silva is reffered to by Innocencio (Diccionario Bibliographico) as "one of the best Portuguese Calligraphers". A second edition was published in 1819, a third in 1841, and a facsimile was published in Porto in 1899.
More info
John Locke et les philosophes francais. La…
More Photos
SCHØSLER, JØRN.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62682
Oxford (Voltaire Foundation), 1997. 8vo. In the original blue cloth publisher's binding with gilt title to spine. With the original dust jacket. Ownership signature to inside of front board. Internally clean. VIII, 183 pp.
Minne af von Linné, fader och son. 2 parts.
More Photos
EDIN, SV.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62673
Stockholm, Nordström, 1808. 8vo. In contemporary half calf. Wear to extremities, upper half of spine partly detached. Inner hinges split. With light brownspotting throughout. (8), 136, 102, (10) pp. + 2 engraved portraits and 2 engraved plates, of which one is folded. First edition. The volume is divided into two sections entitled “von Linné den äldre” and “von Linné den yngre.” The first contains the panegyric on Linnaeus delivered at the Växjö gymnasium on the occasion of the Linnaean centenary. The second opens with a memoir of Linnaeus the Younger, followed by “Historiska upplysningar till Carl von Linné den äldres lefverne” Soulsby 2647.
More info
Udvikling af Læren om Interessentskab og de samme…
More Photos
BANG, P. G.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62669
Kjøbenhavn, Seidelin, 1829 & 1833. 8vo. Three parts in two volumes, both in the original green paper covered boards. With author's presentation to Danish Professor in Low F. C. Bornemann in both volumes. Wear to spines and scratches to boards. Internally very nice and clean, printed on good paper. (2), 182 pp.; 134 pp. Presentation copy of the rare first edition of P. G. Bang’s seminal work, Udvikling af Læren om Interessentskab og de samme nærmest vedkommende Retsforhold – the very first Danish treatment of the subject, and a milestone in Scandinavian legal history. This pioneering study is regarded as the first jurisprudential exposition of corporate law in Denmark anticipating later systematic treatments of partnership and company legislation. His work established a legal-theoretical foundation for the understanding of partnership agreements, shareholders’ relations and the broader legal framework governing commercial associations. The copy was given by Bang to F.C. Bornemann, a Danish legal professor at the University of Copenhagen from 1840 to 1861, primarily known for applying philosophical methods to legal science. He was influenced by contemporary German philosophers, notably Hegel, in his work on legal philosophy. Peter Georg Bang (1797 – 1861) was a Danish politician and jurist. He served as the Prime Minister of Denmark 1854–1856
More info
The True Watch and Rule of Life or a direction…
More Photos
BRINSLEY, JOHN.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn61602
London, Humphrey Robinson, 1648. 8vo. In contemporary full calf with triple ruled fillets to boards. Wear and soiling to extremities. Missing leather on upper part of spine and lower front corner of spine. Prevvious owner's name to title-page. Internally with marginal dampstaining throughout. A few leaves with tears and a hole. (18), 205, (8), 251 pp.
Planternes Metamorphose. Fire Forelæsninger af K.…
More Photos
MARTIUS, P. v.
Herman H. J. Lynge & Søn A/S
lyn62468
Kjøbenhavn, 1840. 8vo. In recent blue boards. Nice and clean. 80 pp. First Danish translation of Martius' Metamorphosis of Plants. Martius is famous for outlining the modern classification of palms and prepared the first maps of palm biogeography.