1558, Lyon, French: Histoire de Fl. Iosephe, sacrificateur hebrieu
Josephus and his works were especially popular during the French Renaissance. At least nine different publications of French translations of Josephus' works are known from before 1600, with many of those publications reprinted once or twice during that same time span. The 1558 publication examined here was not the first French Renaissance edition, but it is the original publication of the translation of François Bourgoing, which was later reprinted in 1562 and 1573 (Smith and Mayer 1999, 174).
This edition is comprised of two volumes. The first volume, which is the only one found in the CRRS collection, contains Josephus' Jewish Antiquities and Against Apion and the second contains the Jewish War, Josephus' Vita, and "a treatise on the martyrdom of the Maccabees;" i.e., the book of Fourth Maccabees, which was traditionally wrongly attributed to Josephus (for the reasons to reject that attribution see Anderson 1985, 532).
The translator of this edition, François Bourgoing, was a convert to Protestantism and a Protestant pastor. His translation was made from the Latin text, rather than the Greek. At the beginning of the volume is a dedication to Prince Francois de Cleves, duc de Nivernois, which includes an explanation of the usefulness of Josephus' historical works to rulers. Another preliminary section - "raison sur l’Epistre precedente" (reason for making this edition/translation), describes the translator's intent to try not to inject Jospehus with his own ideas, in contrast with - so he claims - other translators, and also argues the worth of a translation by a Christian French man. (For Bourgoing's views and treatment of Josephus see Smith and Mayer 1999, 177-180).
Bourgoing's translation of the Antiquities is followed (on pp. 649ff.) by the French translation of Contra Apionem by Barthélemy Aneau, who was also a Protestant (Chalmers 1812, 231-232). Interestingly, this translation divides the second book of Contra Apionem into two parts, corresponding to the main authors against whom Josephus is arguing: the first part, against Apion and the second against Molon and Lysimachus (beginning on p. 701).
At the end of the volume are an index and a "Privilege du Roy, 1558."
Bibliographic Information
Title:
Histoire de Fl. Iosephe, sacrificateur hebrieu escrite premierement par l'auteur en langue grecque & nouuellement traduite en fr[ançois par] Franço[is Bourg]oing ; partie en [deux] tomes ... auec ample indice tant des chapitres que des principales matieres.
Imprint:
A Lion: Par Iean Temporal, 1558.
Language:
French
Translator:
Bourgoing, François, -1565.
Aneau, Barthélemy, -1561.
Printer:
Temporal, Jean
Physical description:
2 vols. CRRS holds volume 1: [24], 718, [60] pages; 31 cm.
Contents (vol. 1):
Front matter -- (signature * 2)
Des Antiqvitez Ivdaiqves [Jewish Antiquities] -- (signature *** 3), 1
Sommaire Declaracion svr l'Apologie de Ioseph Contre Apion... -- 649
Contre Apion Alexandrin [Against Apion] -- 654
Priuilege du Roy -- [719]
Table des principales matieres (Index] -- [signature Pp]
Signatures:
*3, **6, ***4, a–y6 [z1-6 wanting], A–Z6, Aa–Ss6, Tt5
Condition:
Pages 265-276 wanting. Title page damaged, with some loss of letters. Full name of translator supplied in manuscript.
CRRS call number:
PA4223 .F5 B6 1558
References
Anderson, H. (1985). "4 Maccabees." Pp. 531-564, in James H. Charlesworth (ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, vol. II. New York: Doubleday.
Chalmers, Alexander (ed.). (1812). The General Biographical Dictionary: Containing an Historical and Critical Account of the Lives and Writings of the Most Eminent Persons in Every Nation; Particularly the British and Irish; from the Earliest Accounts to the Present Time, Volume 2. New edition. London.
Smith, Pauline M. and Mayer, C. A. (1999). “The reception and influence of Josephus’s Jewish War in the late French Renaissance with special reference to the Satyre Menippee.” Renaissance Studies 13 (no. 2) 173–191.