5 volumes in-folio (39 x 24 cm), With woodcut printer's device on title (noli altum sapere). Woodcut signature of Henri Estienne in Greek in vols 2 and 4, woodcut cartouche heading each letter. Second issue, almost identical to the first edition of 1572. Complete with the necessary supplement, at the end of volume 4: Glossaria duo. De Atticae linguae seu dialecti idiomatis, that is in fact another work, printed in 1573. Spines in gilt morocco, boards in green sheepskin, some scratches, all edges gilt
While a financial catastrophe, Henri Estienne's Greek dictionary is the bedrock of his reputation as one of the greatest classical scholars who ever lived. It remains to this day the essential tool for the study of Greek, since there still exists no substitute for it' (Schreiber). It is 'the most comprehensive and sophisticated lexical record of any European language that had ever been published' (J. Considine, Dictionaries in Early Modern Europe, 2008, p. 82). Complete, with the four parts and Appendix. The Thesaurus was envisaged by Robert Estienne to complement his Latin Thesaurus of 1543, and his son Henri was already at work on it in 1558. It was a pioneering work, arranging words not in alphabetical order but grouped according to their etymological roots. It also proved Henri Estienne's financial ruin"" (Schreiber). Ref. Adams S-1791 ; Machiels S 575 ; Gilmont GLN 15-16: 2435 ; Printing and the Mind of Man 62 note
