Τραγῳδίαι … — Paris 1552/1553

Τραγῳδίαι […], Δημητρίου τοῦ Τρικλινίου, περὶ μέτρων οἷς ἐχρήσατο Σοφοκλῆς, Περὶ  σχημάτων, Σχόλια. — 

Parisiis, M. D. LIII. Apud Adrianum Turnebum typographum Regium. [Colophon:] Excudebatur Lutetiae Parisiorum IX. Cal. Ian. M. D. LII.

Paris, Adrien Turnèbe, 1553 [but 1552], and 1553 [Triclinius].

First edition of Demetrius Triclinius’ scholia (14th c).

4to (224 x 167 mm). 

Sophocles: *⁴ A-N⁴ O⁶ P-V⁴ X⁶ Y, Z a-d⁴ e² f-m⁴ n6 o-s⁴ t⁶ v-z Aa-Cc⁴: (4) leaves, 400 ( i.e. 404) pp., O₆ blank; 

Triclinius: *² A-S⁴ T² V, X⁴: (2) leaves, 147, (1) pp., (8) leaves. Two parts in one volume. 

Contemporary blindstamped pigskin, very expertly rebacked with old spine laid down. Two clasps. The shape of the clasps suggests a bookbinder in Leipzig. Paste-down and first endpapers new. IHS in the center of the upper, MAR[IA] on the lower cover.

Provenance: Some contemporary annotations in Latin, the most in Ἐλέκτρα and Φιλοκtήτης. Οἰδίπους Τύρανος has manuscript line numbering.

Adams S 1445; Hoffmann III2, 413f.; Dibdin II, 410f.: „… a rare as well as elegant publication“.

Printed in four sizes of the Royal Greek Type (Grecs du Roi). Triclinius has its own title-page (Δημητρίου τοῦ Τρικλινίου, εἰς τὰ τοῦ Σοφοκλέους ἑπτὰ δρᾶματα, Περὶ μέτρων οἷς ἐχρήσατο Σοφοκλῆς, Περὶ σχημάτων, καὶ σχόλια), dated 1553, and was also sold separately.

Turnèbe – vir maximus erat doctissimusque, J. Scaliger – followed Robert Estienne as Royal Printer in Greek from 1551 to 1555; he taught Greek at the Collège Royal from 1547 to 1565, the year of his death. Turnèbe’s edition of Sophocles is the first with line numbers, printed left resp. right of the first line of each page.

The printed marginalia are variants of the text, marked by an asterix in the line, such as

ἀπάγετ᾽ ᾦ φίλοι, τὸν ὄλεθρον  *μέγα                μέγαν

and metrical notes such as

Σύστημα κατὰ περικοπὴν στίχ. β.

Uncertain passages are marked by: < … < or by: < … >. This marking seems to be introduced to Sophocles by Turnèbe.

There has been a little confusion about the date of publishing since both dates given in the Sophocles are erroneus. The title-page should have 1552 instead of 1553. The colophon of the Sophocles reads IX. Cal. Ian. MDLII, i.e. 24th Dec. 1551, but it should be IX. Cal. Ian. MDLIII,  which is 24th December 1552. In other words: The Sophocles was finished in December 1552, the Triclinius in 1553.

Turnèbe’s text remained the best edition until the one of Brunck in 1786. It’s „… a watershed in critical approaches to Sophocles …“ (J. Lewis, Adrien Turnebe (1512-1565). A Humanist observed. Genève 1998, 187ff.)

On Demetrius Wilamowitz-Möllendorf wrote: „Namentlich Demetrios Triklinios ist in Wahrheit eher als der erste moderne Tragiker-Kritiker zu führen, denn als ein unzuverlässiger Vertreter der Überlieferung …“ (H. Hunger, Schreiben und Lesen in Byzanz, Mchn. 1989, S. 71).

A bit more from Lewis‘ notes on the edition: „Although a Greek text had been published by Aldus as early as 1502, Turnèbe’s edition marks a watershed in critical approaches to Sophocles because of the care and the clarity with which the edition was established. As is usual with him, Turnèbe gives no critical apparatus: instead, his Preface is marked by a delight in being able to use a manuscript which the Byzantine scholar Demetrius Triclinius had already corrected, and by a great admiration for the dramatic and poetic qualities of Sophocles‘ works – in particular, for the gravity and majesty of his verse, which, in his opinion, surpasses all other Attic drama … As with the edition of Aeschylus, the various sources used for this edition need careful identification. The principal manuscript source was undoubtedly B.N. Parisinus graecus 2711, commonly known as T, though Turnèbe did not reproduce that manuscript exactly. From what Turnèbe says in his Preface he could well have found this manuscript also in the collection of Aimar de Ranconet, though interpretation of his words must remain subject to caution, because Turnèbe reveals very little about his manuscript sources, and because no manuscript of Sophocles in the Bibliothèque Nationale came directly from Ranconnet’s own collection. The manuscript itseld dates from the first third of the fourteenth century, that is to say from the period when Demetrius Triclinius was active at Constantinople: he probably compiled his readings of Sophocles about 1332. Turnèbe’s edition does contain different readings, taken from the Aldine edition of 1502, and he inverts the order in which the Oedipus Rex and Antigone appear, but the physical resemblances between T and his edition are too marked to be coincidental … Parisinus graecus 2711 must herefore be regarded as the texte de base from which Turnèbe proceeded. Carefuly reading of his text does reveal, however, that he frequentl prefers readings taken form the Aldine edition of 1502, and indeed occasionally departs from both sources; but since he gives no critical apparatus, it is extremely difficult to state with certainty what other sources were involved, if any … Nevertheless, whatever its sources might have been, Turnèbe’s work did prove to be highly influential in the establishment of a reliable text, and in the onward transmission of Sophoclean drama …“

Dibdin 410f.: „… the famous edition, which was once of such authority that no editor presumed to depart from it … It is a rare as well as elegant publication.“