Cicéron - Pureté et élégance de la langue latine - 1690

[LATINISTS – JESUIT PEDAGOGY – 17th CENTURY]
[ANONYMOUS / COMPILED PEDAGOGY]
Notes on the purity and elegance of the Latin language. Drawn from Cicero, & from the purest authors. For the use of the Colleges of the Society of Jesus.
In Lyons, at Antoine Molin, Bookseller, rue Quatre-Chapeaux, [undated, end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century]

Small in-12 / pocket format (a charming little portable volume). Title page engraved with privilege mention ("With permission"), followed by the body of the work intended for the stylistic exercise of the pupils.

Full dark brown old calf binding, spine either blank or with 3 discreet ridges (wear from use, antique patina full of charm). Red speckled edges. Ancient handwritten note on the cover.
Lyons edition printed at Antoine Molin, bookseller on rue des Quatre-Chapeaux. This typical pedagogical manual illustrates the rigorous teaching methods of Jesuit colleges, where mastery of classical Latin (based on the imitation of Cicero) formed the foundation of all intellectual training in the Ancien Régime.

In its original state, solid and authentic, bearing witness to studious handling (friction on the covers and edges, leather nicely patinated).
Paper well preserved, fresh with a few foxed and scattered browns consistent with the book’s age. A perfectly legible title page and a clear text.
The anecdote of the collector / The spirit of the work: This little book is a direct witness to the intellectual weapon that shaped the greatest minds of classical France (from Corneille to Molière, all trained by the Jesuits). In the colleges of the Society of Jesus, Latin was not merely a dead language: it was the living language of diplomacy, science, and thought. This manual served as an uncompromising guide to hunt for barbarisms and to purify the style of young pupils by arming them with the most elegant turns of Cicero.

A pleasant copy.