Dictys Cretensis und Dares Phrygius. Historical... Lot 90

Dictys Cretensis und Dares Phrygius. Historical History and Description / of the Troian War / and Destruction of the City of Troy / By the highly esteemed historians / D[i]ctyn Cretensem / and Darem Phrygium / First described in Greek language / then Latin / and now and recently by Marcum Tatium etc. Transformed from Latin into German / never seen before / decorated with thoroughly beautiful figures. (On the last leaf:) Augsburg, Heinrich Stayner, 1540. fol. 12 unnum. With a large woodcut title page and 66 woodcuts in the text, 7 large initials and 28 (partly repeated) woodcut ornaments. 19th century paperback (slightly rubbed and bumped). VD 16 D-1414, Muther 1110, not published by Adams. Second edition published by Steiner (first in 1536) of these "eyewitness accounts" by "Dictys Cretensis" and "Dares Phrygius", which are probably Latin elaborations from late antiquity. The Cretan Dictys is said to have taken part in the battle for Troy with his king Idomeneus on the side of the Greeks; the account of the Phrygian Dares is a kind of counter-account from the Trojan perspective. What both accounts have in common is that they rationalize and de-heroize Homer's story. The texts were discovered in the 12th century and subsequently became decisive for the reception of the Troy material in the late Middle Ages and early modern period. Even Goethe drew on Dares and Dictys for an "Achilleis". To this day, it is not clear whether a Greek original even existed. The translation into German was made by the Swiss humanist Marcus Tatius (probably Tach), who was born in Zernez in the Engadin. After studying in Munich, he became a professor of poetry in Ingolstadt. He was crowned "poeta laureatus" in 1526. The woodcuts come from various Augsburg prints, including cuts from the "Theuerdank", Steiner's Petrarca and Cicero, and the Scanderbeg. They are by Jörg Breu, Hans Schäuffelein and Hans Weiditz. Not the very best copy. Some browning throughout, a little soiled or dampstained in places. Weak spot in title woodcut (without loss). Quite a number of leaves with old backed tears in margins and reinforcements in folds with paper strips.