53 - MEURS JOHANNES: CRETA, CYPRUS, RHODUS SIVE DE NOBILISSIMARUM HARUM INSULARUM REBUS E ANTIQUITATIBUS COMMENTARI POSTUMI, NUNC PRIMUM EDITI. AMSTERDAM, 1675

MEURS JOHANNES: CRETA, CYPRUS, RHODUS SIVE DE NOBILISSIMARUM HARUM INSULARUM REBUS E ANTIQUITATIBUS COMMENTARI POSTUMI, NUNC PRIMUM EDITI. AMSTERDAM, 1675 FIRST EDITION, tall Quarto, contemporary vellum over boards, large uncut copy, complete all three parts present, text clean and bright, overall in very good plus condition. A cornerstone of 17th-century antiquarian scholarship. It is a comprehensive study of the history, culture and antiquities of three major Mediterranean islands, based on Meursius's deep analysis of ancient Greek, Latin, and Byzantine texts. Each island (Crete, Cyprus, and Rhodes) has its own dedicated section with separate title pages and pagination. Meursius was known for his encyclopedic approach, gathering every known reference to these islands from classical literature to reconstruct their ancient laws, myths, and geography.For historians of Cyprus or Crete, this book is one of the earliest systematic attempts to compile a complete ancient history of the islands using the critical philological methods of the Dutch Golden Age. It remains a primary reference for understanding how 17th-century Europe viewed the classical world.