Les oeuvres

First edition of Michel de Marolles' translation, bilingual, with French alongside the Latin version. A frontispiece with a medallion portrait and legend in volume I, a second allegorical frontispiece in volume II.
Contemporary soft vellum binding. Smooth spine with pen-and-ink title at head. Soiling to spines and boards. Several gatherings loosened in volume I, one in volume II. One perforation to title page of volume I, due to a crossed-out passage in margin. Leaf 131 in volume I partially detached. Leaves 151, 153 detached. Leaf 193 detached. Good copy, fresh.
Manuscript ownership inscription: Valmon de La Giraudière.
The first volume contains the Odes and Epodes and the second the Satires, Epistles and Ars Poetica. Michel de Marolles was an indefatigable translator who made available to the general public the works of Antiquity. His bilingual, critical and annotated editions ensured his success. While they earned him criticism from his peers for the accuracy of his translation and notes, they successfully ensured the penetration into culture of Greek and Latin works through the excellence of the editions.