Τὰ ἐκ τῶν Μενάνδρου σωζόμενα … Paris 1553

Menander, Damoxenes, Epicratis, Eubulus, Euphronis, Diphilus, Apollodorus, Philemonis, Posidippus, Epicharmus, Philippidis, Sotadis, Theopompus, Antiphanis, Anaxandrida, Eupolidis, Cratetis, Nicostratus, Bathonis, Clearchus, Mnesimachus, Alexidis e.a.

Τὰ ἐκ τῶν Μενάνδρου σωζόμενα. Ex comoedijs Menandri quae supersunt. — Parisiis, M. D LIII. Apud Guil. Morelium. [Colophon]: Parisiis colligebat Guil. Morelius. M.D.LIII.

Paris, G. Morel, 1553

Editio princeps

8vo (142 x 93 mm).
A9 (+4 *A5), B9 (+4 *B5), C9 (+4 *C5), D5 (+3 [=2] *D3), E9 (+4 *E5), F9 (+4 *F5), G9 (+4 *G5), H5 (+2 *H3), I5 (+2 *I3), K5 (+2 *K3): (74) leaves.
Contemporary limp vellum.
Type: Grec du Roy, 20 lines = 68 mm (Morel used the material of Turnèbe, who was King’s Printer in Greek from 1552 to 1555).
This is an extremely rare copy of the Greek text only.
By printig Greek and Latin on different sheets Morel could sell copies in Greek and Latin, in Latin only, and in Greek only. The usual copies are the bilingual ones. Copies in Latin only (finished in 1554) or Greek only (1553) are extremely rare. Besides our copy I found only one of the Greek monolingual edition: Paris, Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de la Sorbonne. Bibliothèque Victor-Cousin (VCM 6= 8423; Texte grec seul), and none of the Latin edition except our copy.

As printed sources for his edition Morel used: Athenaeus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Collectanea impresso cum Callimacho, Eusebius etc. And he used, as the verso of the title-page of the Latin edition shows, a manuscript „Hieronymus Spartanus, in libello manu scripto, cui erat inscriptio, Εκ τοῦ Μενάνδρου γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι.“ In fact this Hieronymus is Georgius Hermonymos from Sparta, who arrived in Paris in 1476 and earned his living as copyist at the French court and teacher of Greek at Paris University with Budé, Erasmus, Reuchlin, Lefèvre d’Etaples amongst his students. Morel specifically points out that this source is a manuscript.
On Hermonymos see Maria P. Kalatzi, Hermonymos. A Study in Scribal, Literary and Teaching Activities in the Fifteenth and Early Sixteenth Centuries, Athens 2009 (with focus on the manuscripts, JD). – Hoffmann II 590f.; Adams P-1692. The editions of the Sententiae by Jaekel (Leipzig, Teubner, 1964) and Pernigotti (Firenze, Olschki, 2008) do not discuss Morel’s edition though the Hermonymos manuscripts play a prominent role in the tradition of the text.

The photo shows an inserted leaf with its stub. For details see our copy of the bilingual edition.