Les harangues academiques

Rare first edition. Printer's device on title page. Translation by George de Scuderi from delle dissertazioni accademiche. Translator's preface.
Contemporary limp vellum binding. Unlettered smooth spine. The author himself calls his Harangues "the fury of youth," expressing thereby that they break free from rules. The work contains 22 harangues, many on subjects from Greek mythology. The harangues are speeches, pieces of eloquence addressed to an audience; at the end of each harangue, the effect on the assembly is given; each harangue being preceded by an Argument, a prologue allowing the stakes of the discourse to be situated. A fitting example is that of Agamemnon having killed a sacred deer, and whose Diana demands in compensation the sacrifice of a young virgin, namely Iphigenia, his own daughter; the hero addresses the army to express his fault and his paternal feelings. These Harangues are reminiscent of the poetry contests that the Greeks organized on legends known to all.