Dictionarium Historicum Geographicum Poeticum
Parisiis (Paris): Robertum Fouet, 1608. Later Edition.
Gilded double banded frame around front and back cover. Spine repaired sometime ago. Solid binding and pages in good crisp condition. Latin letters, A-Z, each with a small engraving. Stamp from a previous owner on the Title Page. Considered the first encyclopedia, this work is arranged alphabetically so you can consult it for information about any person, place, or thing cultured persons of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were supposed to know of: Moses or Mercury, Abraham or Aristotle, King Arthur or Henry VIII. First published in 1553 by his family printing business, there were various further editions, pirated or otherwise.
Author: The name of the author or complier, Charles Estienne, does not appear, indicating this may be an early pirated copy. Born in 1504, son of a printer, he studied medicine in Paris, worked as a tutor and in 1551 took over the family printing business from his elder brother Robert who left for Geneva. Appointment as printer to king Henri II did not save him from bankruptcy in 1561 and death in a debtors’ prison in 1564. Wrote several other learned works including a treatise on dissection."
Pages: 912
Dimensions: 6¾ x 9¼ x 2½
Price: $750.00