MEURSIUS, Johannes.

by Johannes Meursius

£2,450 · Offered by Sokol Books

.A very good copy, with interesting contemporary Mexican provenance, of the first edition of this important work on Greek antiquity by the Dutch antiquary Johannes Meursius (1579-1639), professor of Greek at Leiden. This copy was in two Jesuit collegia in Mexico: at Veracruz, where the Jesuits first landed in 1572, and at Tepotzotlan. The latter, established in c.1600 near Mexico City, became one of the most influential novitiates, especially under the rectorship of the chronicler Andr és P érez de Ribas (1575-1655), probably in office when this copy was acquired. He called the Collegium one of the principal and most necessary in Mexico, especially as an institution which also focused on the teaching of the Nahuatl and Otom‚àö‚↠languages (Molina, 101). This included the staging of adapted Spanish plays translated into Nahuatl and performed in local churches (Burkhart, 35). .An invaluable didactic instrument, Meursius s work was intended first and foremost for university students. This copy was very likely employed at the collegia as the Ratio studiorum of 1599, which systematised the Jesuit curriculum, considered Greek a part of required studies and generally saw history as ancient history (Worcester, 661). Lectiones Acticae built on previous works on Greek antiquity by the great classicists Graevius and Gronovius, to create a compact encyclopaedia of ancient history and customs. It includes sections on Athens, the oath of junior magistrates (thesmotetai), the history of th

• Binding: Hardcover

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