Catulle; François Noël (traducteur) - Traduction complète des Poésies de Catulle - 1803-1803

CATULLUS – Full Translation of Catullus's Poems, by François Noël. Paris, Remont / Leger, An XI – 1803. 2 volumes.

Superb and rare complete two-volume set of this reference edition from the early 19th century, renowned for its folding out-of-text map and its frontispiece illustration.

Description of the content & Literary importance
This “Complete Translation” by the renowned classical scholar and grammarian François Noël (1755-1841) is one of the era’s most ambitious attempts to offer the French public the entirety of Catullus’s carmina, accompanied by Gallus’s poems and the Veillée des Fêtes de Vénus (Pervigilium Veneris). The work shines with a very rich critical apparatus: grammatical notes, textual, literary, historical, and mythological critiques, followed by parodies of modern Latin poets and the best imitations by French poets.

Illustrations & Remarkable Particularities
• Large folding out-of-text engraved plan: “Plan of Catullus’s Country House Located at the End of the Sirmione Peninsula” (Lacus Sirmionis), complete and in very good condition (see photos).
• Superb engraved frontispiece in intaglio after Bouillon by B. Roger, entitled “Ariadne Abandoned,” protected by its original serpentine.
• Prestigious provenance ex-libris pasted on the pastedown: “Bibliothèque de Champy, fils aîné.”

Technical Sheet & Condition
• Author: Catullus (Translation and commentary by François Noël).
• Publisher/Printer: De l'Imprimerie de Crapelet. In Paris, at LEGER, Bookseller, and at REMONT, Bookseller.
• Year of edition: AN XI — 1803 (Note: although the text circulated and is sometimes linked to the 1805 edition, the title page explicitly states the date An XI - 1803).
• Format: Octavo (2 complete volumes, Volumes I & II).
• Binding: Full calf or vellum from the period, smooth spine richly decorated with gilded compartments, title and volume labels (1 and 2) in dark morocco. Speckled edges matching the guards.
• Condition:
• Binding: Good overall condition, gilding very bright on the spines. Slight epidermures and normal wear at the headcaps and boards, without severity for a book of this period.
• Interior: Overall clean interior with good paper integrity, typical foxing for the period. The folding plan and the Ariadne engraving are very well preserved.

A choice copy for any collector of Latin classics bound volumes or fine illustrated editions from the Consulate and the First Empire.

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