Burman - Poetae Latini - 1731

THE SECRET CANON OF ANCIENT LATIN WRITERS: CHASE, MYTH, AND PHILOLOGY
A grand 18th-century philological achievement that brings together under a single editorial architecture the so-called Poetae Latini Minores, authors often marginalized from the canon but essential for understanding the variety and richness of Latin poetry. The edition edited by Pieter Burman is not a simple collection, but a genuine cultural recovery operation: dispersed, fragmentary, or little transmitted texts are restored with scholarly apparatus, notes and commentaries that place them in a new hierarchy of knowledge. The result is a dense, stratified volume in which philology intertwines with classical imagination — between hunting, nature, myth and poetic technique.
MARKET VALUE
Copies of this Leiden edition of 1731, in quarto format and complete, typically fetch between 700 and 1,000 euros on the antiquarian market, with higher values for copies in excellent condition or with particularly refined bindings.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Full leather binding, spine with title “P. Burmanni Poetas Minores” stamped in gold; wear to boards and spine. Dutch privilege present (“Privilegie”). Frontispiece engraved depicting a scene of hunting (van Bleyswyk), with an allegorical statue and putti; initials wood-engraved. Leaves with physiological browning and foxing. In old books, with a multisectional history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 62; 730; 554; 110; (4).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Poetae Latini Minores.
Leydae, apud Conradum Wishoff et Danielem Goedval, 1731.
Pieter Burmann.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
This edition represents one of the pinnacles of Dutch philology in the 18th century, in which scholars like Burman dedicated themselves to systematizing and recovering the entire classical heritage, going beyond the narrow scholastic canon. The so-called “minor poets” include technical, didactic, or fragmentary authors, such as Gratius (author of the Cynegeticon on hunting), who offer a different and complementary perspective compared to the great names of Latin literature. The engraved title page, rich in symbolism, reflects this world: hunting as a metaphor for knowledge, nature as a poetic space, and classical tradition as ground to explore and conquer. The work is thus not only a collection but a manifesto of 18th-century erudite culture.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Pieter Burman (1668–1741), also known as Petrus Burmannus, was one of the most important classical philologists of his time. A professor at Utrecht and later at Leiden, he distinguished himself with critical editions of Latin authors, characterized by extensive use of commentary and scholarly apparatus. His work contributed decisively to the transmission and understanding of classical texts in modern Europe.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Printed in Leiden in 1731 by Conrad Wishoff and Daniel Goedval, this edition sits within the great Dutch printing tradition, renowned for the quality of types and editorial accuracy. The Poetae Latini Minores underwent several reprints and revisions, but Burman’s edition remains one of the most complete and influential, intended mainly for scholars and erudite libraries.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ICCU/OPAC SBN: IT\\ICCU\\TO0E\\061234 (to be verified)
WorldCat: OCLC 457889321
Brunet, Manuel du libraire, I, col. 1373
Graesse, Trésor de livres rares, V, p. 232
Schweiger, Handbuch der klassischen Bibliographie, II, p. 764