La pharsale de Lucain ou le guerres civiles de Cesar & de Pompée en vers François, par M. De Breboeuf. de LUCANUS, Marcus Annaeus - 1658

Leiden: Jean Elsevier [ Elzevir ], 1658. Hardcover. See Description. Small 12mo. pp. 417, [1]. With extra engraved title page. Bound in period full red morocco. Spine is gilt in compartments; boards are richly gilt with floral borders. The binding is well preserved with only minor spots of wear. All edges of the book block are gilt. The extra engraved title is tightly trimmed with no outer margin. Interior pages contain occasional mild marginal spotting but are otherwise generally clean. Lucan’s epic poem "Pharsalia" (written during the reign of Nero) concerns the Roman Civil War between Julius Caesar and Pompey. In 48 b.c.e the conflict came to a conclusion with Pompey’s defeat on the Thessalian plains of Pharsalus. The poem then extends down to the capture of Egyptian Alexandria. Lucan’s epic is also noted for containing many elements of the supernatural, including turgid scenes of magic and witchcraft. Translated from the Latin into French verse by the French poet and translator Georges de Brébeuf. The first de Brébeuf edition was published by De Sommaville in Paris (1655). [Willems 827; Rahir 826; Berghman 907 - "Édition belle et des plus appréciées"]