Mithridates, First Edition (6 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good+. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good+. 1st Edition.

No Binding. Condition: Poor. 1st Edition. Li, 431 Pp. 8 1/2" X 5 1/2". Immaculate Square Text Block, New Binding And Endpapers, Top Edge Newly Gilt, Ample Margins. Tight. But Rebinding Incomplete, Lacking Covers. Some Informed Pencil Notes.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Li, 431 Pp. 8 1/2" X 5 1/2". Quarter Morocco With Morocco Tips, Red And Black Morocco Spine Labels, Gilt, Five Bands Marbled Endpapers And Matching Marbling To Page Edges. Immaculate Square Text Block With Original Polish And No Wear. Light Rubbing, Tiny Frays At Top Of Front Spine Edge And At Lower Front Tip, Heraldic Bookplate.

Hard Cover Blindblocked Cloth. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. First Edition. li+431 pp+catalogue, 8vo, hb, attractive blindblocking even colour of case faded, sound binding, clean text, no foxing. An early book on a wide range of languages developing across the world. Author pleasds against a narrow discussion of classics like Greek & Latin, giving himself instead a much wider world perspective. Size: 8vo. Antiquarian.

FIRST EDITION first work. 2 works in 1 vol. 8vo. ll. 78. First Roman, Greek, Hebrew and Gothic letter, second Roman and Greek letter. Second with woodcut printer's device to t-p and another to last. Very good, clean copies, the first well-margined, in faded olive morocco, gilt oval supralibros with the arms of Jacques-Auguste de Thou impaled with those of his wife Marie Barbançon, spine gilt à la Grecque in compartments with their joint monogram IAM, titles of both works lettered direct, raised bands with single fillets, two with hatching, in excellent condition. Ms. used as spine guards visible under pastedowns, small window scratched away at rear revealing possibly c.1400 French charter waste. Ink shelfmarks of the Soubise library to front pastedown, 'P/3.C.P.T.3.L.169,' and to front board, '3.3.L.169,' obscured by very small hole. c.1900 lithographed bookplate of Bibliotheca Elseghemensis, Amaury de Ghellinck d'Elseghem Vaernewyck (1851-1919) of Belgium, to front pastedown. C19 ms. bibliographical note to ffep on the Gesner ('très rare'). C20 bookseller's label, Brun of Lyon, to rear pastedown. Fascinating sammelband of two closely related works on ancient linguistics, one a first edition of Conrad Gesner's work on the development of languages, including the gypsy dialect Rotwelsch, dedicated to John Barclay, Bishop of Ossory, the other the first dictionary of vernacular Greek. From the library of the French historian and bibliophile Jacques-Auguste de Thou (1533-1617). The second work, by the Venetian printer da Sabbio, under the Greek name of Stephanos Chrysimos, constitutes the first attempt to produce a dictionary of modern, vernacular Greek. It contains an alphabet with phonetic pronunciation, a brief description of vowels, diphthongs (of which there are twelve, divided into 'proper,' i.e. those known to be used in ancient times, and 'improper,' i.e. those introduced through modern custom), and consonants. There then follow Greek versions of the Lord's prayer and Hail Mary transliterated phonetically into Roman script, and Latin versions transliterated back into phonetic Greek, the former providing a useful indication of contemporary pronunciation and corresponding orthography. The dictionary is arranged alphabetically by Italian words, which are then provided in transliterated 'vulgar' or vernacular Greek, Latin, and finally literary or ancient Greek, below which all four words are transliterated phonetically into Greek script. Gesner's work is a study of the development of ancient languages into various dialects from which modern languages are derived. He notes in the introduction that many languages are simply corruptions of ancient Hebrew, and divides languages into classical and 'barbarian,' divine and 'brutish.' The work itself takes the form of an alphabetical catalogue of entries, often very brief. These include, inter alia, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Armenian, Babylonian, Scottish, Welsh, English, Persian, Sabine, Rhaetic or 'Alpine,' Punic, Hebrew (using Hebrew script), Etruscan, Cappadocian, Chaldaean, Circasian, Moscovite, Turkish, and ancient and vernacular Greek. Aimed at a scholarly audience, this work nonetheless addresses a modern vernacular context: the longest entry by far is on the German language. At the rear Gesner reprints a glossary of words in high German and 'Rotwelsch,' a slang or thieves' cant used by beggars, vagabonds and drifters, designed to illustrate the development of dialects, but also the need for the regulation and control of languages to prevent their corruption. After 1587, de Thou ordered a new block to include the arms of his first wife, Marie de Barbançon-Cany (1587-1601), as well as a cipher joining their initials, IAM, which appears on the spine of this copy. I: USTC 676278. BM STC Ger., p. 358. Adams C550. II: USTC 844595. EDIT16 CNCE 52593. Not in Adams.

8°. 21 x 13,5 cm. XXXIV, 686; XXIV, 808; VI, 474 Seiten. Hellbraune Ganzlederbände der Zeit mit goldgeprägtem Titel auf rotem Rückenschild, reicher floraler Rückenvergoldung, marmoriertem Vorsatzpapier und rotem Sprengschnitt. Erste Ausgabe. Einbände berieben und am Rücken zum Teil etwas rissig, fliegende Blatt und Titelblätter leimschattig, Seiten leicht gebräunt, Titelblatt des zweiten undn dritten Teils mit zwei kleineren Randeinrissen und Namen in blauer Tinte. Insgesamt gutes bis sehr gutes Exemplar.