EUSTATHIUS MACREMBOLITE. The Loves of Ismene and... Lot 1276

[EUSTATHIUS MACREMBOLITE]. The Loves of Ismene and Ismenias, followed by those of Abrocome & Anthia. Geneva, sn, 1782. In-16, frontispiece engraved by Delaunay after Marillier, old-red morocco, smooth spine decorated, title-piece, triple gilt fillet on the boards, gilt fillet on the edges, gilt edges, inner garland (period binding). The first edition of this translation by Pierre-François Godard de Bauchamps (1689-1761) appeared in 1729; it was reprinted in 1743. But the author of this love story in the genre of late antiquity is a Byzantine writer of the 12th century, Eustathius Macrembolite, almost unknown, who has long been confused with Eustathius of Thessalonica. This History of Hysmin and Hysminias has the particularity of being written in prose, and has been very successful since its first translation into Italian by Lelio Carani (1550), which preceded the original edition in the original language (1618) by almost a century. As for the Loves of Abrocome and Anthia, it is the other title of the Ephesiacs, a novel by Xenophon of Ephesus, or Xenophon the Younger, whose dates are not well established (2nd or 3rd century AD). (Cioranescu, XVIII, 31381. Cf. Brunet II, 1113-1114.) A fine copy.