Libanius the Art of Speaking in Byzantium Erasmus' Apprentice Text as Translator of the Classics the Latin Translations are Printed Facing the Greek Texts on Parallel Pages Woodcut... (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 2nd Edition. Declamatiunculae aliquot, eaedemq[ue] Latinae, per Des.Erasmum Rot. Cum duabus orationibus Lysiae itidem versis, incerto interprete, & aliis nonnullis. Basel, Johann Froben, March (at end: 1st May) 1522. 4to. [114]f. Greek text with Latin translation on opposite pages. With ornamental woodcut borders and historiated initials after Hans Holbein; ornamental title woodcut border signed by U[rs] G[raf]. Large printer's device at end. Contemporary blind-tooled half pigskin over oak boards. Erasmus proved his linguistic skills in his Latin version of the collected speeches on set topics by the 4th century Greek rhetorician Libanius, his first attempt at translating a classical text. Working from a Greek manuscript at Louvain University, he corrected several errors and omissions, for the first printing in 1519. The remaining errors were eliminated for this 2nd edition prepared by Froben, in which a number of passages were given a more accurate form. Libanius, who taught at Antioch and Constantinople, was regarded as a model of style both in Christian Byzantium and in Renaissance Europe. He was advisor to both the pagan emperor Julian (362-3) and the Christian emperor Theodosius I (379-393). The volume additionally contains Latin versions of Isocrates' Orations (by Petrus Mosellanus), the declamations of Lucian of Samosata by Erasmus, and the orations of Lysias. The Latin translations are printed facing the Greek texts on parallel pages. The splendid woodcut title border is illustrated in Walter Lüthi, Urs Graf, Zürich 1928. A good copy with a contemporary manuscript entry on title and contemporary manuscript notes in Greek in a few blank margins; occasional light traces of waterstaining in blank margins, otherwise well preserved in its original binding. Adams L-630. Hoffmann II, 519; VD16-L1480. Signed by Author(s).