CICERO Marcus Tullius De Divination, naguères translaté de Latin en Frâçois, par Robert du Souchey.

Brunet, II, 55 ; not in Adams and other specialized bibliographies.

Very rare edition of this translation by Robert de Souchey, practically unknown to this day. Studies on this text, which began thanks to Michel Simonin in 1997, have made it possible to obtain more precise information on the dating and identification of the publisher. In particular, the presence of a candelabra on the title page would link it to the heirs of the publisher Pierre Gromors: indeed, until 1544-1545, this printer would have used other marks, while his sons, probably less famous, would have chosen the candelabra as their emblem. The semi-anonymity of the volume is therefore understandable, and it would certainly have been more successful if it had been published by a publisher of the calibre of Father Gromors.

On the other hand, the dedication to Joachim de La Ferrière, Du Souchey’s fellow student in literary studies, is important for understanding the aim and typology of the work. Indeed, Souchey’s desire to propose a translation with literary ambitions, intended to enrich the French language, is underlined. However, there is no shortage of difficulties in rendering Cicero’s work, particularly because of the specialised vocabulary and the many passages in verse inserted both as quotations from other authors and as poetic productions by Cicero himself. The French translator chooses to popularise these parts as well, by reproducing the verses: in this way, the rhetorical effects are maintained. On the whole, this De divinatione is extremely interesting, especially for its promotion of the French language and for Du Souchey’s attention to some typical skeptical themes, opposing for example superstition and the abuse of religious credulity and openly defending French national traditions. The title is printed within a woodcut architectural border with the printer’s mark – a candlestick with a lit candle – and his motto ‘Alteri serviens consumor’ (In the service of others I consume myself). 

This edition is very rare on the market, it is missing from the Bibliothèque nationale de France and only four institutional copies are recorded : Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich, University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Kantonsbibliothek in St. Gallen, and the Bibliothèque municipale in Provins. 

A very good copy.