Büser - Anakreon en Saffo - 1836

ANACREON AND SAPPHO – THE SONGS OF LOVE OF ANCIENT GREECE
A refined poetic collection dedicated to the two great protagonists of Greek lyric poetry, Anacreon and Sappho.
Published in Zwolle in 1836, with Dutch verse translations directly from the Greek originals.
Jacob Theodoor Büser’s work brings together amorous poetry, convivial lyrics, ancient fragments, and scholarly annotations. An intriguing testimony of the Romantic rediscovery of classical culture in northern Europe. Exemplary with an old illustrated bookplate, preserved in its sober nineteenth-century binding.

ABSTRACT
An interesting Dutch edition of 1836 of the lyrics of Anacreon and Sappho, translated and commented by Jacob Theodoor Büser, an intellectual, poet, and former Dutch officer. The volume gathers pieces attributed to Anacreon, the celebrated singer of love, wine, and life’s pleasures, together with the poetic fragments of Sappho, the foremost exponent of ancient Greek lyricism. The translation is accompanied by philological notes, literary observations, and original verses by the author. Published during European Romanticism, the book represents a significant testimony to the modern fortune of Greek poetry and the attempt to reproduce in Dutch its musicality and emotional intensity.

WHY TO BUY
A publication of particular interest for collectors of classical literature, Greek poetry, and nineteenth-century translations. The work brings together two fundamental figures of ancient lyric tradition, presented through a Dutch poetic version accompanied by a rich apparatus of commentary. Compared with the more common French, English, and German translations, this edition documents a less frequently encountered aspect of the reception of Greek classics in the Netherlands. The presence of the old illustrated bookplate adds an element of provenance history, while the sober binding and well-preserved interiors maintain its character as an authentic nineteenth-century book.

MARKET VALUE
Indicative approximate commercial value estimated between 300 and 450 euros, considering the specialist interest of the 1836 edition, the classical subject, the presence of the bookplate, and general condition. The target market is mainly Greek literature in translation and nineteenth-century Dutch bibliography.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Nineteenth-century green-gray half-cloth binding with beige paper-covered boards and a paper label on the spine bearing the abbreviated title. An antique illustrated bookplate affixed to the front pastedown, depicting a monumental building with a tall tower, accompanied by a property inscription. Interiors show some physiological foxing and sporadic signs of use. Boards with light abrasions and natural color changes. In old books with a long history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. This listing contains AI Visuals. Please refer to the original photographs to verify the actual condition of the item. Images are an integral part of the description. Pp. (2); 2nn; 8nn; 154; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Liederen van Anakreon en Saffo.
Te Zwolle, bij J. J. Tijl, 1836.
Jacob Theodoor Büser.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The publication belongs to the European Romantic cultural climate, when Greek poetry became the subject of renewed literary and philological interest. Anacreon, Ionic poet of the 6th century B.C., was admired for the lightness and elegance of his verses, devoted to love, wine, and beauty. Sappho, who lived on the island of Lesbos between the 7th and 6th centuries B.C., represented an extraordinary model of personal expression and emotional intensity. Büser approaches both authors, aiming to preserve the meaning of the Greek texts while making them accessible to the Dutch public through poetic form. The volume includes anacreontic pieces, translations of Sapphic fragments, standalone poems, and a apparatus of annotations that compares interpretations, versions, and textual issues. The work thus constitutes not only a poetry collection but also a document of the history of literary translation, showing how themes of love, beauty, desire, and the transience of life continued to be reinterpreted over two thousand years after their origin.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Jacob Theodoor Büser (1788–1868) was a Dutch poet, translator, and man of letters. After a stint in the military, he held judicial and administrative positions, including that of secretary at the cantonal court of Hasselt. He also pursued intense literary activity, dedicating himself to poetry, translation of the classics, and moral reflection.

Among his works are Dichterlijke Verrukkingen (1816), Liederen van Anakreon en Saffo (1836), Dichterlijke Kleinigheden (1839) and several later works of poetic, patriotic, and philosophical character. He also received an honorary doctorate in letters from the University of Groningen.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The edition was published in 1836 in Zwolle by the printer and publisher J. J. Tijl. The volume sits within the nineteenth-century Dutch tradition of translations of the Greek classics, in a period marked by intense activity of recovery, comparison, and reinterpretation of ancient literatures.
Particularly significant is the translator’s declared intention to follow the originals faithfully, rather than produce mere poetic imitations. This stance was recognized by contemporary criticism: a review from 1838 in Vaderlandsche Letteroefeningen highlighted the philological fidelity of the translation, though it discussed some stylistic limitations.
The original print run is not known. The work is documented in Dutch bibliographic references and constitutes an interesting testimony to the circulation of Greek lyric poetry in the Netherlands during the first half of the nineteenth century.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Vaderlandsche Letteroefeningen, 1838 issue, comparative review of Büser’s translation and J. J. L. ten Kate and S. J. van den Bergh’s Oden van Anakreon. F. Jos. van den Branden and J. G. Frederiks, Biographisch woordenboek der Noord- en Zuidnederlandsche letterkunde, entry Jacob Theodoor Büser. Verslagen en Mededelingen van de Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde, 1924, bibliography of Dutch translations of classical authors, with record of the 1836 edition. DBNL, Digital Library for Dutch Literature, bibliographic cards and documentation related to the author and the work."}}#!/assistant ҷониби>json thawj 0}