Aristofane - Comoediae - 1810

THE LAUGHTER OF ATHENS THAT CROSSED THE CENTURIES: ARISTOPHANES BETWEEN PHILOLOGY, SATIRE, AND OXFORDIAN HUMANISM
Elegant Oxford edition of Aristophanes' comedies published in 1810 and curated by the renowned philologist Richard François Philippe Brunck, one of the pivotal figures in the revival of classical studies between the 18th and 19th centuries. The work collects in four volumes the entire Aristophanean corpus with Greek text, Latin translation, critical apparatus, variants, and fragments of the lost comedies. It is a edition designed for scholars, academics, and humanists, printed at a crucial moment for European philology, when Oxford and the great universities of the continent were engaged in the critical reconstruction of ancient texts. The copy also preserves a refined ex libris of Antonio Romagnoli, an element that enriches its collecting provenance.
MARKET VALUE
Complete editions of Aristophanes edited by Brunck maintain a stable market among connoisseurs of Greek classics, philology scholars, and specialized libraries. Complete sets in uniform contemporary bindings and in good condition are generally found between €400 and €800. The presence of the complete four-volume series uniformly bound constitutes a positive factor from a collecting standpoint.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Four volumes. Contemporary full leather bindings with dot fillets on the boards, gold-ornamented spines with labels bearing the title and volume numbers. Marbled edges. Present ex libris "Antonio Romagnoli" with motto "Perseverando Vinces". Pages with some physiological foxing and a few ancient manuscript annotations of study in the Greek text. Spines and hinges with some wear and abrasions. Front board of the first volume loosened. In old books, with a history spanning centuries, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp.:
(2); 18; 6nn; 326; (2).
(2); 2nn; 340; (2).
(2); 2nn; 208; 50; 96nn; (2).
(2); 2nn; 330; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Aristophanis Comoediae. 4 volumi.
Oxonii, Typis et Sumtu N. Bliss, 1810.
Aristofane.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Aristophanes (c. 446–386 BCE) represents the supreme figure of ancient Attic comedy. His plays constitute an indispensable testimony of the political, social, and cultural life of classical Athens during the Peloponnesian War. Through sparkling language, often irreverent and provocative, Aristophanes attacked philosophers, politicians, demagogues, and customs of his time, leaving a vivid portrait of Athenian society. The Brunck edition occupies an important position in the history of classical philology. Based on a systematic comparison of the available manuscripts and earlier humanist editions, it helped fix numerous textual readings that would remain fundamental for later editors. The apparatus of notes, variants, and linguistic observations transformed the work into an essential tool for generations of scholars. Of particular note is the presence of the fragments of the lost comedies, which allowed scholars to reconstruct at least partially the vast dramatic patrimony of Aristophanes today lost.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Aristophanes was probably born in Athens around 446 BCE and died around 386 BCE. Considered the greatest playwright of ancient Greek, he authored over forty works, eleven of which have come down to us in full. Through masterpieces such as The Clouds, The Birds, The Wasps, and Lysistrata, he exerted a profound influence on Western theatrical tradition, from Latin comedy to modern satire.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Aristophanes’ works were among the Greek texts most studied by Renaissance humanists. The first printed editions appeared at the end of the 15th century in Venice in the Aldine milieu and enjoyed extraordinary editorial fortune. In the 18th century, Richard François Philippe Brunck (1729–1803) produced one of the most influential philological revisions of the text, originally published in Strasbourg. The Oxonian edition of 1810 represents one of the main academic reissues of his work and testifies to the centrality of classical studies in Georgian England. Complete four-volume copies were chiefly destined for universities, libraries, and scholars of ancient Greek.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Brunck, Richard François Philippe, Aristophanis Comoediae, Strasbourg, 1781-1783.
Dibdin, Thomas Frognall, Introduction to the Knowledge of Rare and Valuable Editions of the Greek and Latin Classics, London, 1827, pp. 34-38.
Sandys, John Edwin, A History of Classical Scholarship, Cambridge University Press, vol. III, pp. 52-58.
Graesse, Trésor de Livres Rares et Précieux, I, p. 223.
Brunet, Manuel du Libraire et de l'Amateur de Livres, I, col. 472-474.
WorldCat, edizione Oxford 1810, Aristophanis Comoediae, 4 vols.
British Library Catalogue, Aristophanes, Oxford, N. Bliss, 1810.
Bodleian Library, Oxford, copie istituzionali dell'edizione 1810.
Library of Congress, catalogo delle edizioni Brunck di Aristofane."