Iulii Caesaris Scaligeri viri clarissimi Poetices libri septem: I. Historicus, II. Hyle, III. Idea, IIII. Parasceue, V. Criticus, VI. Hypercriticus. VII. Epinomis. Ad Sylvium filium. Editio secunda.

8vo. (XXIV),945 (recte 949; p. 1-432, 431-462 459-945),(67 index) p. Half calf. 18 cm (Ref: GLN-2893; Graesse 6/1,289; Ebert 20450) (Details: Back gilt and with 4 raised bands. Santandrea’s ‘Veritas’ printer’s device on the title: a woman, the naked truth, seated on a cubus, holding a radiant sun in her right hand; in her left hand she holds an opened book and a palm leaf; her feet rest on the globe; the garland of fruit which surrounds her shows a ribbon with the text in Greek: ‘Alêtheia Pandamatôr’, i.e. ‘Allmighty Truth) (Condition: Small hole at the junction of the spine and the joint near the foot of the spine. Wear to the head and tail of the spine. Edges a bit worn. Marbled paper on the boards wearing away. Right upper corner of the upper board bending. Bookplate on the front pastedown. Endpapers slightly stained. Three small wormholes in the first leaves. Some small wormholes in the blank lower margin in a few places. Paper yellowing) (Note: The greatest contribution of the classical scholar of Italian origin Julius Caesar Scaliger (Giulio Bordone della Scala), 1484-1558, to the history of classical scholarship is of course his brilliant son Joseph Justus Scaliger. In 1524 he moved to France where he became physician to bishop Antonio della Rovere of Agen, and where his son Joseph Justus was born in 1540, the same year in which his ‘De causis linguae latinae libri tredecim’ was published. This work is among his most important philological works. § A far more comprehensive work is Scaliger’s ‘Poetices libri septem’, posthumously published at Lyon in 1561, which offers his generically organized classifications of kinds of ancient and modern Latin poems, and comparative criticism of ancient and modern poets, recognizing the rivalry and imitation in Greek, Roman and modern writings. It is ‘one of the earliest modern attempts to treat the art of poetry in a systematic manner. Here he deals with the different kinds of poems, and the various metres, together with figures of speech and turns of phrase, criticises all the Latin poets ancient and modern, and institutes a detailed comparison between Homer and Virgil to the distinct advantage of Virgil, while the epics of Homer are regarded as inferior to the ‘Hero and Leander’ of Musaeus. He also declares Seneca inferior to none of the Greeks in majesty. He makes all literary creation depend ultimately on judicious imitation’. (Sandys 2, p. 178) This Genevan edition of 1581 is a reissue of the edition of 1561. This fundamental work remained the standard in matters of Latin poetry well into the 18th century) (Provenance: Engraved armorial bookplate of ‘Robert Chambre Vaughan Esq. Burlton Hall, Co. Salop’. Vaughan, Robert-Chambre, esq. of Burlton Hall in the County of Salop, born in 1796, was a graduate of Brasenose College, Oxford. (See for him and his ancestors J. Burke, ‘A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland’, London 1835, Volume 2, p. 238/242). In 1818 the degree of Bachelor of Arts was conferred to him. He died in 1876)(Collation: *8, 2*4, a-z8, A-Z8, Aa-Rr8, Ss4)