Comoedias, una cum scholiis ex Donati, Asperi et Cornuti commentariis decerptis...Bâle : in officina Frobeniana, 1538

[MONTAIGNE, Michel Eyquem de (1533-1592)] -- TERENCE, Publius Terentius Afer (circa 190-159 B.C.). Comoedias, una cum scholiis ex Donati, Asperi et Cornuti commentariis decerptis...Basel : in officina Frobeniana, 1538.

Montaigne's personal copy, annotated by him on two occasions : around 1549, not even aged 16, and in 1553, aged 20.

The most annotated book from his library still in private hands.

A precious and touching testimony of Montaigne's fondness for Terence.

The copy is kept in an old vellum binding, slightly later than the annotations but contemporary of Montaigne's life.

Much has already been written about Montaigne's fondness for Terence. In his pioneering work Les Sources et l'évolution des Essais de Montaigne, Pierre Villey has identified more than twenty quotations of Terence, including the well-known "I am human, and I think nothing human is alien to me" (Homo sum : humani nil a me alienum puto), from his play Heauton Timorumenos.
In the chapter "Of Books" of his Essays, Montaigne evokes the poet in these terms : "as for good Terence, the refined elegance and grace of the Latin tongue, I find him admirable in his vivid representation of our manners and the movements of the soul; our actions throw me at every turn upon him; and I cannot read him so often that I do not still discover some new grace and beauty".

Montaigne's amazement was obviously fueled by a constant, focused and active reading, as shown by the 227 autograph annotations. Montaigne annotated his personal copy on two occasions : around 1549, at the time of the books acquisition and "not even aged 16", and four years later, in 1553. These marginal annotations often refer to Cicero, Lucretius, Plautus or Aulus Gellius, offer a fascinating insight into the readings of Montaigne as a student at the collège de Guyenne. They are also a major source for documenting Montaigne's knowledge of ancient Greek.

The copy's destiny after its passage in Montaigne's library is known in parts, thanks to various provenance marks on its title page. The "Gaufreteau" mention indicates that it belonged to a member of this family, linked to Montaigne's, probably in the middle of the 17th century. Another mention, probably applied with the use of a stamp, could link the copy to the Conilh family, who were royal notaries in the region of Bordeaux in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The copy then seems to have "disappeared" until the second half of the 19th century, when it is located in a private collection, as indicated by the stamp on the title page.

This copy seems to have been first mentioned by scholars in 1938, in an article of the Bulletin des Amis de Montaigne. Described as the "Terence of the student Montaigne", and as being "part of a private collection" without any detail, it is told to contain "a very large numbers of words from the text, as if someone wanted to learn them by heart, and even sometimes some annotations in Greek". That said, the author of the article wrote that he had "not been able to check the handwriting".

The copy then "disappeared" again, until it was shown to Montaigne specialist scholar Alain Legros, who was putting the finishing touches to his book Montaigne manuscrit, an attempt to document the books from Montaigne's library and annotated by him. "Fortune is generous", the scholar indicates in his preface : indeed, this Terence is a first choice addition to the corpus, with each of the annotations transcribed, completed, and studied in great detail. Among the 10 books annotated by Montaigne listed by Legros, the Terence occupies the third place, only falling behind the Lucretius and the Caesar in terms of sheer number of annotations. Among this leading trio, only the Terence is still in private hands, the other two being respectively preserved at Cambridge and the Bibliothèque du Musée Condé, in Chantilly.
This "reapparition" was not due to a change of owner, as the copy has remained in the same family since, at least, the second half of the 19th century.

Folio (300 x 200 mm). Printer's device on the title page and the colophon (some marginal dampstaining, lacking leaves D2 and D5). Old french vellum binding, slighlty later than the annotations as some have been trimmed a bit short, but contemporary of Montaigne's life, title written in ink on the spine (partially unbound, some stains).
Provenance : the copy was extensively annotated by Montaigne, on two successive occasions (227 annotations studied by Alain Legros). It also sports several autograph provenance marks :
1) on the upper part of the title page : first autograph inscription by Montaigne, who at the time was "nearly 16 years old"', in 1549 : "Michael Eyquemius Montanus Burdigalensis huius possessor 1549 ætatis anno prope 16. Ca".
2) on the lower part of the title page: second autograph inscription by Montaigne, in 1553, at the age of 20 : "M. E. M. B. 1553 / 20", followed by the motto "Dum licet". Its Italian equivalent "Mentre si puo" was written by Montaigne on the colophon.
Later possessors are documented as such :
3) on the title page, inscription "Gaufreteau" (with a 1633 or 1683 date?).
4) on the title page, "Conilhi" bookplate, probably applied with the use of a stamp.Royal notaries by the name of Conilh are known in the region of Bordeaux in the16th and 17th centuries.
5) on the title page, library stamp of a private library, dating from the second half of the 19th century, with shelfmark.
A "Note on Montaigne's library", handwritten in French and dating from the beginning of the 20th century, was pasted facing the title page.