??S????? ???GO???? ?; Trageodiae VII [= Seven Tragedies of Aeschylus]; Prometheus Bound; Seven Against Thebes; The Persians; Agamemnon; The Libation Bearers; Eumenides; The Suppliants

[Geneva]; [Paris]: Ex Officina Henrici Stephani, 1557. First edition thus. Hardcover. Near Very Good. 4to. [8], 1-395, [5] pp. Eighteenth-century maroon morocco with twin gilt rules to each board, gilt fileting to the boards edges, spine in six compartments with gilt rules and gilt lettering; all edges gilt. Marbled endpapers and pastedowns. Title page in Greek and Latin. Publisher's device on the title page. Text and notes in Greek. Quae cum omnes multo quam antea castigatiores eduntur, tum vero una, quae mutila & decurtata prius erat, integra nunc profertur. Scholia in easdem plurimis in locis locupletata, & in pene infinitis emendata. Petri Victorii cura et diligentia. Adams 9. Dibdin 237-238. Graesse 29. Moss 8. Renouard 446. The first complete edition of Aeschylus, as this is the first edition in which the tragedy Agamemnon was printed in its entirety. With the intelligent and thougthful notes of M. Etienne (the second), the printer of this edition (Etienne II's notes are particularly valuable in the Agamemnon of this edition, as he worked hard to piece the entire tragedy together). Petrius Victorius' notes are also praised, he was the editor for this edition. Graesse praises this edition for its elegant presentation of Aeschylus, and the quality of the manuscripts the printers consulted. Moss cites this edition as printed in Paris, Adams attributes it to Geneva. Moss refers to Etienne's typography as accurate and elegant, with an important correction to the Libation Bearers contained in this edition. Moss also awards Victorius high marks on the quality of his notes. Aeschylus' tragedies are the oldest surviving from Ancient Greece. With powerful, moving themes and subject matter, they are still regularly performed in theatres around the world today. Rubbing to the corners and a small chip to the rear joint; front pastedown with an early 19th-cent. bookplate from the Rugbirns' (Rugby) School Library, free front endpaper has its right corner clipped and an early 19th-cent. gift inscription detailing some of the book's ownership history.