LUCAIN, Marcus Annaeus Lucanus dit. The Pharsalus. - Lot 203

LUCAIN, Marcus Annaeus Lucanus dit. The Pharsalus. Published in Paris by Antoine de Sommaville and by Escu de France in 1659. In twelve / In-12 (145x85 mm) format. Brown granulated basane, spine ribbed, decorated with gilt small irons. 13 f.n.ch., 390 pages, 1 f.n.ch. privilege, engraved frontispiece and title page, 10 engraved intaglio plates. Binding overall rubbed, first board split, tears without loss of text at corner of a few pages, plate in book IV trimmed with loss, a few ink stains and light wetness in margins. Second edition, the first having appeared the previous year, of Brébeuf's translation into French verse of Lucain's Pharsalus. An utterly baroque work, both in its construction and in its language, Lucain's Pharsalus found in Brébeuf a translator of great talent. Although our work is more a French adaptation than a faithful translation, it is precisely this baroque character that Brébeuf sought to convey in his alexandrines. As a result, the text was praised by Corneille on the one hand, and criticized by Boileau on the other. François Chauveau's ten intaglio engravings are the perfect complement to Brébeuf's style. Numerous crossed-out handwritten bookplates. Brunet, III, 1202. Interesting edition, complete with engravings.