In Basel in 1583, an edition of Eusebius Episcopus, a Latin translation revised by Jean de Sponde with a commentary. He was the first to give a literary and theological commentary on Homer. The first edition was dedicated to Henry III of Navarre and the 1595 reprint is dedicated to the same person but now known as Henry IV. It is a very interesting translation as I had the opportunity to observe and analyse it during the first year of the master’s programme. Indeed, we had a task to carry out, which consisted in making a video which took place in the conservation library in Besançon, where we had to present a book.
The book I am presenting in this video happens to be the edition of Eusebius Episcopus with the translation of Jean de Sponde. First of all, it is important to know that George Chapman, always wishing to be honest and as we said, recognising the advantage of learned languages, used this edition to make his translation. In the edition of Besançon there are several interesting features, such as the presence of a handwritten ex libris by the abbot Jean Baptiste Boisot (Ex bibliotheca Joannis Baptiste Boisot Vesontini prioris de Grandecourt & de la Love). It is a folio, separated into two parts. The cover is in vellum with “flowers” on the upper and lower cover and spine. Presence of the inscription Homeros on the spine.
Here, you can see the video realized during the first year of the Master Rare Book and Digital Humanities.
You can see now the entire version of The Odyssey made by Jean de Sponde, take on InternetArchive.