Homère - La Batrachomyomachie, ou le Combat des rats et des grenouilles - 1784

HOMER (attributed to) - GIN, Pierre-Louis-Claude (trans. and ed.) La Batrachomyomachia, or The Battle of the Mice and the Frogs, hymns, & other fugitive pieces attributed to Homer. New translation.
Paris: chez Servière, 1784.
1 volume, 12mo. Contemporary mottled calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt fillets, title label, yellow edges. (Expected wear to the binding, occasional foxing).

Sought-after edition of this elegant translation by Pierre-Louis-Claude Gin, a councilor of the Grand Council, enriched with historical and geographical notes overseen by the historiographer Edme Mentelle.

The Batrachomyomachia (the “battle of the frogs and the mice”) is the quintessential burlesque parody of the Homeric epic. Long attributed to Homer himself in Antiquity, this ancient satire depicts a fierce war between rodents and amphibians, sparked by the accidental drowning of a young rat prince. It later inspired major classics of animal satire, recalling the caustic spirit of the fabulists who came after.