Euphormionis Lusinini Satyricon. Pars I [-III].

[Barclay (John)]

Euphormionis Lusinini Satyricon. Pars I [-III].

Description: FIRST EDITION of the third part, 3 parts in 1 vol, woodcut printer's device on title-pages, a little browned in places, and some minor damp-staining in the margins, pp. 248; 226, [2, blank]; ff. 81, 12mo, contemporary vellum over wooden boards, triple blind ruled fillets on sides, floral corner piece and at centre in blind, spine with blind floral tool in each of 4 compartments, corners bumped, 'Cura et labore' written within each of the printer's devices, name erased from foot of first title, good

Publication Details: No place or printer, 1610

Notes: First edition of the third part, second of the second and third of the first. What is sometimes considered a 'fourth' part appeared in 1614, Icon Animorum, but it really has no connection with the Satyricon. 'Barclay was educated at the Jesuit school in Pont-à-Mousson until about 1602; he may also have tried the noviciate, but either because he was unsuited or because of his father's quarrel with the order and resignation from his post, in the end Barclay did not join. Instead, he developed an antipathy to Jesuit modes of education and recruitment, which he satirizes in his Satyricon (1605 [f...moreFirst edition of the third part, second of the second and third of the first. What is sometimes considered a 'fourth' part appeared in 1614, Icon Animorum, but it really has no connection with the Satyricon. 'Barclay was educated at the Jesuit school in Pont-à-Mousson until about 1602; he may also have tried the noviciate, but either because he was unsuited or because of his father's quarrel with the order and resignation from his post, in the end Barclay did not join. Instead, he developed an antipathy to Jesuit modes of education and recruitment, which he satirizes in his Satyricon (1605 [first part])... a Menippean satire modelled on Petronius's Satyricon. Barclay's choice of model was a first in Renaissance Latin writing and his version was as irreverent as the original. Barclay's Satyricon is the story of Euphormio, a citizen of an ideal realm who arrives in seventeenth-century Europe, and his adventures therein. Almost as soon as it was published, keys appeared to interpret the characters and locations depicted in it. Barclay did not produce any keys himself, only an apology for some of the associations (Apologia pro se, sometimes identified as the third part of the Satyricon, first published in Paris in 1610), and the interpretations of his satire are diverse. Of the references agreed by most authorities, two stand out: James VI as Neptune, a benevolent and powerful figure, and Acignius as the Jesuits. Although Euphormio is generally held to be a figure of Barclay, the extravagance of the character's adventures argue against a directly autobiographical reading. The second part of the Satyricon, containing further adventures of Euphormio, appeared in Paris in 1607. The work was very popular, the first part running to six and the second to five editions within Barclay's lifetime. Its popularity continued into the vernacular, and by the eighteenth century the Satyricon had been translated into French, German, and Dutch. Its attraction is a combination of speculation as to the correct interpretation of the figures within the narrative and delight in the comic misadventures of Euphormio. The work was Barclay's first great literary success, and its dedication to James VI and I doubtless helped his progress at the British court' (ODNB). Although critical of the Jesuits, Barclay remained a Catholic. HIDE