Beschreibung:

RACINE, Jean] -- Publius TERENTIUS Afer (185-159 B.C.). Comoediae sex . Edited by Daniel Heinsius. Leiden: Elzevier Press, 1635. 12° (129 x 71mm). Engraved title by C.C. Dusend, woodcut medallion portrait of Terence on *8v, first page of each play printed in red and black. Late-18th or early-19th-century English green straight-grained morocco with crest of the Marquis of Blandford on both covers, gilt edges (slight rubbing at extremities). Provenance : Louis de Beauvois (signature lightly washed from title); Jean Racine (1639-1699, autograph signature on title, some underlinings and two notes on pp.9, 55); George Spencer as Marquis of Blandford (1766-1840, binding, not in White Knights 1819 sale); Robert Hoe (booklabel, sale 15-19 April 1912, lot 3179); Paul Voute (booklabel); Michel Maignan (booklabel). RACINE'S COPY of the first Elzevier edition of Terence, a remarkable association. Racine translated in the margin of the prologue to Terence's Eunuch the line "nullum est jam dictum, quod non dictum sit prius" as On ne dit plus rien qui n'ait esté dit . Books from the great tragedian's library are rare on the market. The Elzeviers printed five editions in 1635. This is the first, with catchword on *8r reading 'Danie-', the word 'Laches' printed in red on p.51. In Willems opinion, the first edition was by far the most beautiful: 'la plus belle et la plus estimée est incontestablement la première, qui est un chef-d'oeuvre typographique'. Willems 433