Sale 2457 - Early Printed Medical, Scientific & Travel Books, October 17, 2017

122 ● (HOMER.) Homeri et Hesiodi certamen [and other texts]. [8], 181 pages; lacks final blank. 8vo, 171x103 mm, late 18th-century red straight-grain morocco gilt, joints and cover corners rubbed; contents toned with occasional foxing. Bookplates of Charles W. G. Howard (gift of Sir David Dundas) andWilliam A. Elwood. [Geneva]: Henri Estienne, 1573 [800/1,200] FIRST EDITION of an anonymous narrative on the lives of Homer and Hesiod and an imaginary poetic contest between them, written in the 2nd A.D. but derived from older sources. Additional texts include a long essay by Henri Estienne on Greek parody, and lampoons of Homer by Matro, Hegemon, and Hipponax. GLN-2466; not in Schreiber. 123 ● LYCOPHRON. Alexandra, obscurum poema. Greek text with Latin translation by Willem Canter and commentary ascribed to John Tzetzes. [10], 211, [1]; 59 pages. BOUND WITH : PINDAR; et al. Olympia. Pythia. Nemea. Isthmia. Greek text with Latin translation and Greek scholia, edited by Paul Estienne. [16], 487 pages. Together, 2 volumes in one. 4to, 240x165 mm, 17th-century vellum boards with faded spine title in ink, dark discoloration on front cover, turn-ins sprung; dampstaining in lower inner corners throughout, first title page browned, 19th-century owners’ signatures on front free endpaper. [Geneva]: Paul Estienne, 1601; 1599 [300/500] The first work is the first Estienne edition of a 4th-century B.C. verse monologue in which Cassandra prophesies the fate of the Trojans and Greeks.The second is the first book with the imprint of Paul Estienne, the only Estienne edition of the Greek lyric poets in quarto format, and the only one to include the ancient Greek scholia. Hoffmann II, 569, and III, 98; Schreiber 272, 268. 120 122