Lot 1070: ESTIENNE, ROBERT. 1503-1559.

Dictionarium Latinogallicum. Paris: Robert Estienne, 1538.
Folio (303 x 200 mm). [a]υ2 a-zυ8 A-Zυ8 2Aυ8 2B4 (-B4 blank). Double column, roman and italic type. Printer's woodcut device on title. Criblé initials. 18th century French sheep, spine gilt in compartments, morocco lettering-piece. Dampstained, h8 blank corner torn away, first 2 and last 2 leaves remargined, ownership inscriptions partially lined through and trimmed on title, binding worn at extremities, spine ends chipped and corners showing.

FIRST EDITION OF ROBERT ESTIENNE'S FIRST BILINGUAL DICTIONARY, based on the Thesaurus (1531, augmented in 1536). "The Dictionarium latino-gallicum, which appeared in 1538 and was twice reissued, was more than an abridgment of the 1536 Thesaurus, the existing French translations being in many cases revised and others added. The idea of a bilingual dictionary was not his own ... It seems, however, that Estienne's work was recognized as an improvement on anything else available" (Armstrong p 88). "The Dictionarium latino-gallicum of 1538 ... received, understandably, an even greater acclaim [than the Thesaurus, it] was reprinted in 1543 and 1546, and served as the acknowledged model of the Latin-German (Zürich 1568) and Latin-Flemish (Antwerp, Plantin, 1573) dictionaries" (PMM). Adams S1803; PMM 62b; Renouard 46.