[GUENEBAULD, Jean] Le Réveil de Chyndonax, 1621

[GUENEBAULD, Jean].

Le Réveil de Chyndonax, prince des Vacies, druides celtiques diionois.

Dijon, Claude Guyot, 1621.

Small 4to (194x135 mm), (16)-176-(16) pages and 1 folding plate. binding : Eighteenh century full calf, gilt spine in six compartments. First joint splitted.

First edition.
Rare first impression in Dijon at Claude Guyot.
Jean Guenebauld, a doctor from Dijon, discovered in his vineyards in 1598, a funerary urn which he believed to be of Druidic origin.
This urn is adorned with an epitaph in ancient Greek:
"Here, in the sacred land of Mithras, a mound covers the body of Chyndonax, high priest. Abstain from impiety at the sight of his redemptive tomb" (translation after W. Vollgraff)

The identity of the cult to the deity Mithras mentioned in the epitaph is still debated today, W. Vollgraff brings it closer to a cult dedicated to Aphrodite Ourania ( Vollgraff W. The awakening of Chyndonax . In: Classical Antiquity, Tome 18, Fasc. 1, 1949. pp. 55-78.).

references: Dorbon [5940 :"Rare - Contient de nombreux documents sur les enterrements, incinérations et sépultures chez les différents peuples de la terre"] Caillet [II, 4819 :"Ouvrage curieux et recherché"] Brunet [IV, 1257 :"Cet ouvrage est assez curieux, mais on ne recherche que les exemplaires où se trouve la planche qui représente le tombeau et l'urne"].

provenance: Bookplate from Kimbolton Castle was the family seat of the Earls and Dukes of Manchester.

Price : 500 €

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