Details
PHILO Judaeus (b. c. 25 B.C.). Les Oeuvres, translated from Greek into French by Pierre Bellier, Paris: Nicolas Chesneau, 1575. 2° (320 x 215mm). Chesneau device on title, Chesneau tailpiece on privilege leaf, roman type, shoulder notes in italic, errata leaf at end. 8 woodcuts. (Stain at top of title). Contemporary French gilt-tooled calf, arms of the city of Rennes [Olivier 768, fer 1] at centre, foliate cornerpieces, g.e. (Old repairs at spine, front hinge split, slightly scuffed). Provenance: city of Rennes (binding); Jean de Rieux, 1628 (title inscription); a few early annotations; Jacques Vieillard (19th-century bookplate).
FIRST EDITION of Bellier's translation, Chesneau issue. Philo is one of our most reliable witnesses to the Jewish community at Alexandria in the century before Common Era, and his works are imbued with Platonic and neo-Pythagoric philosophy. Chesneau shared the edition with Michel Sonnius, apparently differentiating the issues only by the printer's device and name on the title-page. Brunet cites a 1588 edition as the first. Mortimer Harvard French 434; cf. Brunet IV, 614.
FIRST EDITION of Bellier's translation, Chesneau issue. Philo is one of our most reliable witnesses to the Jewish community at Alexandria in the century before Common Era, and his works are imbued with Platonic and neo-Pythagoric philosophy. Chesneau shared the edition with Michel Sonnius, apparently differentiating the issues only by the printer's device and name on the title-page. Brunet cites a 1588 edition as the first. Mortimer Harvard French 434; cf. Brunet IV, 614.
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