PINDARUS. - Pindari carmina. Ex editione Chr. Gottl. Heyne.

Oxford (Oxonii), Typis N. Bliss, impensis M. Bliss et R. Bliss, 1808. 16º 2 volumes in 1: (IV), 230,(2 blank);138,(2 blank) p Black morocco 12 cm (Ref: Hoffmann 3,100: 'Schöne Ausgabe'; Schweiger I,236; Brunet 4,660; Graesse 5,295; Ebert 16880; Not in Gerber; Rico, Ensayo de bibliografia Pindarica, p. 3) (Details: Back gilt and with 3 raised bands. Boards with double fillet gilt borders. Within these borders a band of blind-stamped floral motives. Edges of the boards and of the book-block gilt. Gilt inside dentelles. Charming and fine typography. The odes are preceded by explanatory 'argumenta'. There is no Latin translation, nor commentary) (Condition: Wear to the extremes of the binding. Ownership inscription on the front flyleaf) (Note: A quarter of the works of the Greek poet Pindar, ca. 518-438 B.C., his four books of epinicia, named after the Great Games, the Olympian, Pythian, Nemean and Isthmian, survive. Pindar wrote eulogistic hymns to celebrate a victory in athletics, boxing and horse racing. Praised in a magnificent way are the victor, his family, the native city. 'Each ode draws from a variety of historical, cultural, and mythological sources. The highly allusive manner by which this material is presented is complemented by an equally rich repertoire of metrical patterns from epic, Doric, and Aeolic systems'. (The Classical tradition, Cambridge Mass., 2010, p. 729) 'Extended similes and difficult metaphors, intricate syntax and rapid narration, far-reaching digressions and bold disruptions' result in grandiose, but also enigmatic poetry. § Pindar's influence on European literature is great. The great number of editions and translations of Pindar's odes that were printed in the 16th century are an indication of a widespread humanist interest. Pindar was, with the Roman poet Horace, the chief classical model for modern formal lyric poetry. The poets of the Renaissance borrowed first of all thematic material from Pindar. 'They enriched their language on the model of Pindar's and Horace's odes, taking it father away from plain prose and from conventional folk-song phraseology. And in their eagerness to rival the classics, they made their own lyrics more dignified, less colloquial and song-like (.) more ceremonial and hymn-like'. (G. Highet, 'The classical tradition', Oxford 1978, p. 230) § Many of Pindar's maximes and punctuated statements, containing elements of traditional wisdom, were collected in Renaissance anthologies of 'sententiae'. 'Pindar (.) provided the Humanists of the Reformation with pithy statements of moral instruction and wordly advice, which ensured the poet's place in pedagogical circles. Moreover, as a source of proverbial wisdom, Pindar was elevated nearly to the status of biblical Salomon. (.) The sheer variety of Pindarically influenced traditions -the political ode and the personal, the religious hymn and the song of genius, the freely aimless and the rigorously concise- all serve as a testament not only to Pindar's versatility, but also to his rich potential to inspire'. (The Classical tradition, Cambridge Mass., 2010, p.729/30) § The German classical scholar Christian Gottlob Heyne, 1729-1812, was, according to Sandys, not an original genius. 'He was a many-sided scholar, who studied and expounded ancient life in all its successive phases, and became the founder of that branch of classical teaching that deals with the study of Realien'. (Sandys 3, p.40) The criticism and exposition of ancient poetry is represented in his still important editions of Tibullus, Vergil, Pindar and the Iliad of Homer. His textual criticism is weak. 'His choice among different readings is guided more by personal preference than by an impartial weighing of the evidence'. (.) The preparation of the metrical part of his Pindar was entirely entrusted to Hermann, then 25 year of age. Heyne's own interest lay, not in the metre, but in the subject-matter of the Odes'. (Idem, ibidem)) (Provenance: On the front flyleaf: 'Louis LeBrun, from his sincere friend W.L., 11 Mars 1859') (Collation: pi2, B-P8, Q4 (leaf Q4 blank); pi2, B-I8, K4 (leaf K4 blank)) (Photographs on request)