Artemisia, Koninginne van Karie. Treur-spel.

Dutch manuscript on paper, c. 20 x 16 cm, [2]-73-[1] pp., 28 ll., expertly written in brown ink, with a few corrections (paper toned, some minor soiling or spotting).

Cont. blindst. vellum (soiled), flat spine titled in ink. In very good condition.

Apparently unpublished Dutch verse tragedy about Artemisia I, Queen of Caria (on the coast of Western Anatolia, with Halicarnassus as capital). Its existence was only known from a reference in J. van der Marck’s “Naemrol der Nederduitsche tooneelspellen” (Leiden 1774). There it was listed under the plays “In manuscript” as number 3 “LE BLON Artemisia, Koninginne van Karie, treurspel zeer net geschreven, h[alve] b[and] in 4to” (actual location unknown). The present manuscript is probably a 2nd copy of that text, since it is still in its original full vellum binding. “Le Blon” is unknown, but is most probably not to be identified with the German painter Jacob Christoph Le Blon, or the Dutch art dealer and diplomat Michiel Le Blon. Ref. Not in Ceneton (Leiden).