M. Acci Plauti Comoediae Superstites XX. Accuratissime editae.

24mo. 715,(5) p., engraved title. 19th century half calf. 13.5 cm (Ref: Willems 1152, note; Bergmann 2214; Rahir 3319; Schweiger 2,766; Ebert 17196; Brunet 4,709; Graesse 5,329) (Details: Back gilt, and divided in 7 compartments, in 4 of them gilt lozenges filled with tiny floral motives. Marbled endpapers. Uncut right and lower margin. Engraved title, depicting the playwright Plautus pointing with his left hand to a performance, in his right hand he holds a jester staff) (Condition: Binding slightly scuffed. Head of the spine very slightly damaged. Boards somewhat scratched and corners somewhat bumped) (Note: M. Accius Plautus, ca. 250-184 B.C., better known as Titus Maccius Plautus was a playwright of great talent, ‘one of the highest type of dramatists, worthy to rank with Sophocles, for example, or Shakespeare’. (Rose,H.J. A handbook of Latin literature, London, 1967, p.40). 21 of his plays, the socalled ‘fabulae Varronianae’ survive more or less complete. His Vidularia survives only in mutilated fragments, and is not incorporated in this edition. This 1652 edition seems to be a reissue of the edition of 1630, which was produced by the Dutch scholar Johan Isaac Pontanus, 1561-1639. It was repeated in 1640 by the Blaeu Brothers, and in 1652 by Louis Elsevier, but only the text of the comedies, the short notes of Pontanus printed at the end were omitted. There exist however counterfeits of the Elsevier edition of 1652, and this book is one of them. This fake Elzevier edition was probably printed on a later date by Johan Blaeu. It has exactly the same original engraved (Elzevier) title, the same number of pages, and the same 5 pages at the end with a short biography of Plautus and testimonia. The only differences are the ornaments on the first and the last page, and the number of verses per page. Rahir supposes that Johan Blaeu or another printer, might have bought the copper plate of the engraved title of the 1652 edition, once used by the Amsterdam establishment of Lodewijk (Louis) Elzevier, at the sale of its material, after it had been closed down. If Rahir is right, Blaeu might have misused the good reputation of the Elzeviers, to sell his own product) (Provenance: A 19th century engraved armorial bookplate on the front pastedown: a seated fox, above his head a crown. The text reads ‘Holland House’. Holland House was one of the first great houses built in Kensington in London. It was bought in 1768 by Henry Fox, First Baron Holland. This huge mansion was destroyed during the Blitz in 1940. On the verso of the front flyleaf in ballpoint the name ‘Lennart Hakanson’, 1939-1987, professor of Latin at the university of Uppsala) (Collation: A-2Y) (Photographs on request)