Estienne, Henri.
L'Introduction au traite de la conformite des merveilles anciennes avec les modernes.
Ou, traite preparatif a l'Apologie pour Herodote.
L'argument est pris de l'Apologie pour Herodote, composee en latin par Henri Estiene, et est ici continue par luymesme.
Tant d'actes merveilleux en cest oeuvre lirez, Que de nul autre apres esmerveille serez.
Et pourrez vous sçavant du plaisir ici prendre. Vous non scavans pourrez en riant y apprendre.
(The introduction to the treatise on the conformity of ancient wonders with modern ones.
Or preparatory treatise for the Apology for Herodotus.
The argument is taken from the Apology for Herodotus, composed in Latin by Henri Estienne, & here continued by himself.)
[Geneva: Henricus Stephanus], 1579
Size 4 by 6 1/2"
[32], 572 pp.
Bound in 19th century quarter leather over marbled boards
Adams S 1774: Renouard, Estienne, pp. 126-128 (First Edition of 1566).
Very good condition, minor wear of binding
Text in French

This work, the most famous of the reformed humanist, is a violent criticism of society and the Catholic Church of the 16th century .
“ Henri Estienne's most popular vernacular work, one of the monuments of 16th century French prose, and a masterpiece of the satirical genre. Ostensibly written as a defense of the veracity of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the book is actually a violent attack on Roman Catholicism, as well as a satire of 16th century society ” (Schreiber 161).
The Apology for Herodotus presents an indictment against all forms of abuse and deception, those in which merchants, doctors, people of justice, and even more so clerics indulge. Henri Estienne denigrates the superstition of Catholics as it is expressed in their books, but he also attacks the mass, the invocation of saints, the cult of images and relics.
His denunciation rallies the fight that the humanist leads against stupidity with the weapons of the mind.
“ This work, the most famous by the reformed humanist Henri Estienne, is a curious treatise, a sort of violent satire of society and the Catholic Church, in the most exemplary language; he describes the main sins of the time and the failings of the priests, addressing the sin of sodomy and promiscuity. “The work constitutes Estienne's best-known writing in French, a monument of French prose and the satirical genre. Under the pretext of a defense of Herodotus, the book is a violent attack on Roman Catholicism and a satire of 16th century society” (Renouard I, 127)
The Apology for Herodotus is today considered an important work in 16th century literature. The book was emulated by Protestants like Simon Goulart, Jean Chassanion and even Theodore de Beze who took certain facts from Estienne for his Ecclesiastical History. Beyond the 16th century, it also received an echo among the philosophers of the Enlightenment, from Pierre Bayle to Voltaire .
The Apology is an unexpected book in Henri Estienne's production. Estienne pillories the adversaries of Geneva, or more precisely, those who refused to allow themselves to be enlisted in the fight of the new religion: Guillaume Postel, Rabelais, Bonaventure des Periers... He attacks the dogmas that have just been confirmed by the Council of Trent.
Geneva was concerned about the effect that Henri Estienne's book could produce in France, while its author demonstrates great freedom of tone with regard to French affairs, whether he calls into question the Parliament of Paris or evokes the entry of King Henry II into Blois.
By his irreverence, by the disrespect with which he treats the sacred, the critical discourse held by this new Democritus announces Voltaire.

Henri Estienne (1528 or 1531 – 1598), also known as Henricus Stephanus , was a French printer and classical scholar.
He was the eldest son of Robert Estienne.
He was instructed in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew by his father and would eventually take over the Estienne printing firm which his father owned in 1559 when his father died.
His most well-known work was the Thesaurus graecae linguae, which was printed in five volumes.
The basis of Greek lexicology, no thesaurus would rival that of Estienne's for three hundred years.
Among his many publications of Greek authors, his publications of Plato are the source of Stephanus pagination, which is still used to refer to Plato's works.



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