PLAUTUS COMOEDIAE XX Titus Maccius Plautus 1522 ALDINE
ALDINE PRESS 1ST BY ALDO MANUZIO & ANDREA TORRESANO
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USD 2,900.00 |
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008 |
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Monday, November 24, 2008 |
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Salem, MA |
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Description
EX. PLAUTI COMOEDIIS.XX. (COMOEDIAE) quarum carmina magna ex parte in mensum suum restitua sunt M.D.XXII Titus Maccius Plautus was esteemed by the Romans as their greatest dramatist, and still holds a high rank among the comic writers of the world. Twenty of his plays are extant, and though a few of them are incomplete, they have reached us, in the main, as they were written. The maturity which comedy attained in a single generation affords remarkable contrast to the slow process by which other literature was developed in Rome. This is probably due to the dramatic and musical medleys, which, in their allusions to current events and their spirit of banter, must have had a close affinity with the dialogue of Plautus, and also to the use of the Latin language as the organ of business among urban communities. More, however, was due to the genius and command of language possessed by the two oldest creators of Roman literature, Naevius and Plautus. Plautus was a native of Sarsina, in Umbria, born in the earlier half of the third century B.C., and died at a very advanced age in 184. His first occupation was connected with the Roman stage, probably as a scene-shifter, and at this he saved enough money to engage in foreign trade, in which he was unsuccessful. Returning to Rome in extreme poverty, he was glad to earn his livelihood as a mill hand, and it was then that he first began to write comedy, the earliest allusion to current events that we find in his writings being the imprisonment of Nævius in 207 B.C. Most of his extant plays belong to the last ten years of his life, and they were not published during his lifetime, but were left in possession of the players, to whom are due most of the prologues and many interpolations. The works of many contemporary dramatists were attributed to him, so that Varro, who accepts only 21 as undoubtedly genuine, and 19 others as doubtful, states that 130 comedies passed under his name. He was a rapid and productive author, and though concerning himself more with the immediate success of his works than with their literary merits, took a pride and pleasure in his art. No other writer gives us in the same degree the life and force of the Latin idiom undisguised by mannerisms of style. Among the masters of expression in which the prose and poetical literature of Rome abounds, none were more prodigally gifted than Plautus, and this was a natural accompaniment of the exuberant creativeness of his fancy, of the strong vitality and lively animal spirits which were the endowment of the race to which he belonged. This book was printed by the Aldine Press in Venice and is, a first Aldine edition and the only Plautus book printed by Aldine Press. I believe the binding and covers are original vellum. A similar copy is selling on abebooks france for $6,984 with newer covers and binding. The seventh picture is from a Christie's auction and is added for price reference only. I am not a bookseller. I am selling my Grandfather's collection, so if I am mistaken about any info in this listing, please let me know. Thanks! VELLUM BINDING AND COVER - Worm hole in back cover and last few pages but only affects the margin area. Outside edges of paper are black colored. There is some writing on the front from the 1700's. FROM THE MARSTON BALCH COLLECTION
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