Adimari - Ode di Pindaro - 1631

ANCIENT GREECE OLYMPIADS - PINDAR WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF PANHELLENIC GAMES
Striking copperplate apparatus dedicated to the Olympic Games and panhellenic competitions.
Magnificent first edition of the work that established Alessandro Adimari as one of Italy’s leading interpreters of Greek poetry. Published in Pisa in 1631 and dedicated to Cardinal Francesco Barberini, nephew of Urban VIII and one of the most important patron saints of the seventeenth century, this monumental translation represents the first major attempt to render into Italian the poetic complexity of the Odes of Pindar, the supreme canta ora of ancient Olympic victories. Adimari does not limit himself to translating the Greek text: he accompanies it with a vast scholarly apparatus and an extraordinary cycle of engravings dedicated to the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean and Isthmian Games. The plates depict wrestling, boxing, chariot racing, equestrian contests and athletic competitions, transforming the volume into one of the most important iconographic testimonies of the rediscovery of classical sport in Baroque Europe.
WHY TO BUY
Striking copperplate apparatus dedicated to the Olympic Games and panhellenic competitions.
First edition of Alessandro Adimari’s masterpiece.
First great poetic Italian translation of Pindar’s Odes.
Volume sought after by collectors of classics, sports history and 17th-century illustrated books.

MARKET VALUE
The seventeenth-century first editions of great classics translated and commented by Italian humanists maintain a stable and international market. The cultural prestige of the work, its dedication to the Barberini family, the importance of Adimari’s translation and especially the rich iconographic apparatus dedicated to ancient Greek athletic disciplines make this edition particularly coveted. Complete copies with the engravings and bound in contemporary binding are relatively rare on the antiquarian market. The commercial value can be estimated between €900 and €1,600, with higher results for particularly fresh and complete copies.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary full parchment rigid binding with manuscript title and spine label. Wear and some parchment loss, ancient restorations at the capitals. Allegorical copperplate frontpiece by Alessandro Vanni. Title page in red and black. Numerous off-text copperplate plates dedicated to ancient Greek athletic disciplines, including scenes of wrestling, boxing with baskets, chariot races, equestrian contests and panhellenic games. Pages with browning and natural foxing; some marginal ancient restoration that does not affect the engraving. Pp. (2), 20 pp., 748, 64 pp., (2). In old books with a long history, some imperfections may be present that are not always noted in the description.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Alessandro Adimari.
Ode di Pindaro.
Pisa, Nella Stamperia di Francesco Tanagli, 1631.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Pindaro (ca. 518-438 b.C.) was the greatest lyric poet of ancient Greece and the official cantor of the winners of the Olympic, Pythian, Nemean and Isthmian Games. His Odes Epinikia celebrated the victorious athletes by transforming the athletic achievement into a moral, religious and political ideal. For Renaissance and Baroque humanists, Pindar represented one of the absolute peaks of classical literature, and his translation posed an almost impossible challenge. After sixteen years of work, Adimari managed to create an Italian version capable of preserving the elevated stylistic register of the original, while offering a vast scholarly commentary. The work marked a fundamental step in the diffusion of Greek culture in Seicento Italy.

THE FIRST GREAT ILLUSTRATED BOOK OF THE ANCIENT OLYMPIC GAMES
One of the most fascinating aspects of the work is the rich cycle of engravings dedicated to ancient Greek athletic competitions. The plates depict with notable accuracy wrestling, basket boxing, pentathlon, chariot racing, equestrian contests and panhellenic ceremonies. More than mere illustrations, they constitute one of the most important figurative reconstructions of classical sport produced in seventeenth-century Europe and represent a highly significant iconographic source for the history of the ancient Olympics and their fortune in the modern era.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Alessandro Adimari (1579-1649), a Florentine nobleman, belonged to the Accademia della Crusca and the Accademia dei Lincei. A literary figure, philologist and translator, he devoted much of his life to the study of Greek literature. The translation of Pindar’s Odes, the fruit of sixteen years of work, represents his masterpiece and one of the highest achievements of Italian philology in the seventeenth century.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The 1631 edition marks the first appearance of the work. Printed by Francesco Tanagli in Pisa under the patronage of the Barberini family, it was conceived as an editorial monument intended for Italy’s principal learned circles. The engravings were specifically created to illustrate the athletic competitions celebrated by Pindar and constitute one of the richest iconographic apparatuses dedicated to ancient sport published in the seventeenth century. The edition was limited in print run, and complete copies are today relatively rare on the antiquarian market.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ICCU / OPAC SBN, Pisa edition, Francesco Tanagli, 1631.
USTC, Universal Short Title Catalogue, Adimari edition 1631.
Graesse, Trésor de Livres Rares et Précieux, entry "Pindaro".
Brunet, Manuel du Libraire et de l’Amateur de Livres, vol. IV, entry "Pindare".
Catalogue of the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze, copies of the Adimari translation.
Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, entry "Adimari, Alessandro".
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, entry "Alessandro Adimari".
Studies on the fortune of Pindar in seventeenth-century Italy.
Letteratura e filologia classica nell'età dei Barberini.