TÉRENCE. Lot n° 34

Terentius, cum directorio : vocabulorum, sententiarum, artis comice / glosa interlineali / commentariis : Donato, Guidone, Ascensio. [Strasbourg, Johann Grüninger, 1499]. In-folio, yellow and black marbled boards (19th century binding). Precious Strasbourg incunabulum sought after for its remarkable woodcut illustration. This is the second edition of Terence's theater printed by Grüninger, after that of 1496, which was the first illustrated edition of Terence. It was prepared by the poet Johannes Curtus of Ebenspach and is accompanied by commentaries by Donat, Guy Jouenneaux and Josse Bade, as well as a life of Terence from Petrarch. The illustration, of typically Strasbourg style, is composed of 7 full-page woodcuts - the first one, on the title, shows a theater with its actors and spectators, the others, placed at the head of each play, present the different characters - and of 158 mid-page figures, formed of five blocks each, some of which are used several times. Taken from the 1496 edition, this suite seems to be inspired by the first illustrated Terence, given in Lyon in 1493 by Jean Trechsel. It is nonetheless of singular graphic inventiveness and marks a notable inflection in the illustration of the Germanic book, systematizing in particular the use of parallel hatching to represent depth in the image, an inflection confirmed by the Horace and Virgil published by Grüninger in 1498 and 1502. The copy was rubricated at the time and decorated with large initials painted in red. Some of the figures were formerly enhanced with color and their phylacteries sometimes completed with a handwritten legend in red. A copy incomplete of the first two leaves of text and the last three (ff. b1-2 and F4-6) and rather faded: paper repairs to multiple leaves, generally marginal and rarely affecting the printed matter, restored lack of the wood of the title, 2 inverted introductory leaves, repaired tear on f. LVII; wetnesses, stains and foxing, a few minor tears, and a few wormholes without severity to the last leaves; worn headbands and corners. HC, 15432 - Proctor, 488 - Pollain (B), 3670 - Goff, T-101 - BMC, I, 113 - Brunet, V, 710 - Schreiber, V, n°5332 - L. Hermand-Schebat, " Texte et image dans les éditions latines commentées de Térence ", Camenæ, n°10, 2011.