Institutionum oratoriarum Libri XII.

Beschreibung

QUINTILIANUS, Marcus Fabius. Institutionum oratoriarum Libri XII. Paris, Ex officina Roberti Stephani Typographi Regii, 1542. £1250 4to, 551 (=651) (li), a-z8 A-Y8. Roman letter, very sporadic Greek type. Printer s device on title page. Capital spaces with guide-letters. Slightly trimmed. Early marginalia in a clear Latin calligraphy and underlining by different hands, a few seemingly washed, or erased, in any case well faded. Occasional recent pencil marks. In a modern straight-grain gilt morocco binding, fleurons at centre of covers and borders, spine in compartments with alternate pattern of fleurons and dices, dentelle borders, a.e.r. A fine copy. This is Robert Estienne s edition of the Institutes of Oratory in twelve volumes by the Spanish-born Roman rhetorician Quintilian (ca. 35-100 AD), which is one of the most renowned and popular works on the theory and practice of oratory. The work had an incredible influence, especially during the Renaissance, on Western tradition of political oratory. In Rome Quintilian met with great success as a teacher and was the first rhetorician to set up a genuine public school and to receive a salary from the State. He continued to teach for twenty years and among his pupils were Pliny the Younger and the two sons of Domitilla, the sister of Domitian. As a stylist, though he is often difficult owing to compression and the epigrammatic turn which he gives his phrases, he is never affected or extravagant. He is still under the influence of the sound traditions of the Ciceronian age, and his Latin is silver-gilt rather than silver. His Institutio Oratoria, despite the fact that much of it is highly technical, has much that is of interest to‑day, even for those who care little for the history of rhetoric. Notably in the first book his precepts as regards education have lasting value: they may not be strikingly original, but they are sound, humane and admirably put. In the more technical portions of his work he is unequalled; the reader feels that he cares but little about the minute pedantics of rhetorical technique, and that he lacks method in his presentation of the varying views held by his predecessors. But once he is free of such minor details and touches on themes of real practical interest, he is a changed man. He is very eloquent, and always vigorous and sound, while throughout the whole work he keeps the same ideal unswervingly before him. Adams Q64. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers ABE-1521728202293

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