The Ancient World
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HOMER. Hand-coloured tracings after John Flaxman's illustrations for the Iliad and Odyssey.[early 20th-century]
A wide-ranging set of reproductions of Flaxman's iconic Homeric illustrations, unexpectedly heightened with subtle watercolours; the original outline designs were innovative for relying on "'pure' line with no colour, shading or tone" (Royal Academy). The marginal annotations suggest they were prepared for publication, but no coloured editions of... Learn More -
SOPHOCLES. The Tragedies,London : 1729
Rare first edition in English of the collected plays, containing the complete seven tragedies translated and rendered into prose by George Adams. Antigone, The Trachiniae, and Oedipus at Colonus had never been published in English before.
This work is rare in commerce, with only three copies recorded in auction records, the most recent over... Learn More -
HORATIUS FLACCUS, Quintus. Opera.Birmingham : 1777
A lovely copy of Sarah Baskerville's Horace, one of only two books that she published under her own imprint. After the death of her husband John, she briefly continued his fine typographical legacy: "both of Sara Baskerville's books are neatly and elegantly produced with careful craft on good quality paper" (Killeen, p. 192).
Sarah... Learn More -
LUCRETIUS CARUS, Titus. De rerum natura libri sex.Leiden : 1725
First Havercamp edition, number 66 of 820 copies numbered and signed by Havercamp, the editor, and van der Aa, the printer, on a dedicated leaf at the end of the first volume. This is considered the earliest example of a limited edition, produced in a strict number of authenticated copies. The format became widespread from the late 19th... Learn More -
PHILIOS, Demetrios; GATLIFF, Hamilton (trans.). Eleusis. Her Mysteries, Ruins, and Museum.London : 1906
First edition in English of this archaeological survey of the recently excavated town of Eleusis, the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries dedicated to Demeter and Persephone. It was first published in French in 1896.
Philios was the Director of Excavations between 1882 and 1894. Whilst excavations began as early as 1812, Philios was... Learn More -
APULEIUS, Lucius. Der Goldene Esel.Berlin : 1924
Limited edition, number 25 of 200 copies signed by the illustrator on the colophon and on each of his 12 etchings. Richard Janthur (1883-1950) co-founded the short-lived but influential German Expressionist group Die Pathetiker in 1912, which held its only exhibition at Herwarth Walden's Sturm gallery in Berlin.
This copy was issued in full... Learn More -
HUGHES, Ted. Tales from Ovid.London : 1998
First edition, limited issue, number 38 of 300 copies signed by the author. This work, a retelling of twenty-four tales from Ovid's Metamorphoses, was named the 1997 Whitbread Book of the Year.
Copies numbered I-X and reserved for the author were also issued. Learn More -
PROPHECIES. Oracula metrica Iovis, Apollinis, Hecates, Serapidis,Paris : 1607
A collection of verse prophecies by the most important oracles of ancient Greece and Rome. Included are the oracles of Apollo in Delphi and Mylos, of Jupiter in Dodona and Ammon, Hecate and Serapis, and other gods such as Aesculapius and Trophonius.
The prophecies, drawn from classical authors, are concerned with health, meteorological... Learn More -
MARCUS AURELIUS. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.London : 1913
A handsomely bound copy of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations as part of the publisher's Belles Lettres Series. Learn More -
HOUSMAN, A. E (ed.); PLATT, Arthur. Nine Essays.Cambridge : 1927
First edition, inscribed by Housman on the half-title, "Clarence Darrow from A. E. Housman", and with Darrow's bookplate. Housman's poetry was the focus of Darrow's 1929 lecture to the University of Chicago on pessimism and optimism. Their acquaintance commenced in 1927, the year of this essay compilation's publication.
Darrow (1857-1938)... Learn More -
TAYLOR, Thomas (trans.); Ocellus Lucanus; Lucius Calvenus Taurus; Julius Firmicus Maternus; Proclus. On the Nature of the Universe.London : 1831
First edition of Taylor's translation of the four Ancient philosophers, inscribed by the author on the half-title, "This work was printed the latter end of the last year. Thomas Taylor, 9 Manor Place, Walworth". Taylor was a committed Neoplatonist whose translations influenced diverse literary figures, from the Romantic poets to the American... Learn More -
LAWRENCE, T. E. (trans.); HOMER. The Odyssey of Homer.London : 1932
First edition of Lawrence of Arabia's translation, one of 530 copies only. "Inspired by reading Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Bruce Rogers persuaded Lawrence to undertake a new translation of The Odyssey. Begun in 1928 and published in 1932, the translation was undertaken during Lawrence's free time while serving in the ranks" (O'Brien).
The... Learn More -
SILIUS ITALICUS. The Second Punick War Between Hannibal and the Romanes,London : 1661
First edition in English of Silius Italicus's Punica, the longest surviving Roman epic. The translator extends the text with his own Continuation, carrying the narrative forward to the death of Hannibal. Intricate engravings by Joseph Lamorlet decorate the opening of each section.
Thomas Ross (c.1620-1675) was the keeper of Charles II's... Learn More -
CARY, Henry Francis (trans.); ARISTOPHANES. The Birds.London : 1824
First Cary edition, being the the first metrical translation of the Greek comedy into English. It contains the first appearance of the term "cuckoocloudland" (p. 76). Cary (1772-1844) is best known for his translations of Dante. Learn More -
VALPY, Abraham John (ed.). The Family Classical Library; or English Translations of the Most Valuable Greek and Latin Classics.London : 1830-1834
First editions from this noted series, representing the Greek tragedians, Latin satirists, the prose of great statesmen, and Roman history. Valpy (1786-1854) began to publish Classical literature as a schoolboy. The Family Classical Library followed his reissue of the Delphin Classics (1819-30), a series of annotated Latin texts. Learn More -
LOUŸS, Pierre. Les Chansons de Bilitis traduites du Grec.Paris : 1937
First edition illustrated by André Édouard Marty, number 30 of 1,500 copies, in a fine Parisian binding. Beyond his illustration work, Marty (1882-1974) provided fashion plates for the period's preeminent magazines. Here his depiction of the female form is used for Louÿs's pseudo-Sapphic erotic poems. Published in 1894, they were presented as... Learn More -
BELZONI, Giavanni Battista. Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs, and Excavations, in Egypt and Nubia;London : 1820
First editions, a complete set of a famous 19th-century account of Egyptian discovery. "Belzoni's efforts acquired for the British Museum many of its finest Egyptian antiquities... He was actuated by a desire to increase knowledge of ancient Egypt, and is thus a true pioneer in the field" (ODNB). The Narrative includes a contribution by his fellow... Learn More -
FORLONG, James George Roche. Rivers of Life, or Sources and Streams of the Faiths of Man In All Lands;London : 1883
First edition of this ambitious work of comparative religion, delineating the continuities between world cultures throughout human history. Among the civilizations and religions it covers are the Babylonians, Zoroastrians, Ancient Greeks and Romans, Hindus, Buddhists, and cultures from across Scandinavia, Polynesia, and Africa. The publication was... Learn More -
NONESUCH PRESS: HERODOTUS. The History.London : 1935
First Nonesuch Press edition, number 525 of 675 copies of this superb example of book design and presswork. The Nonesuch Herodotus was reviewed as "true to its name. Herodotus has never been put into better English, never been better annotated, never been printed more magnificently". Lawrence's annotations surround the text in the manner of early... Learn More -
HOOKE, Nathaniel. The Roman History, from the Building of Rome to the Ruin of the Commonwealth.London : 1738-71
First editions of Hooke's "radical and subversive interpretation of Roman history as class conflict" (Marsden, p. 52). Originally intended as a revised translation of previous French scholarship, in the event he presented an original argument that the demise of the Republic was the fault of the aristocracy.
Hooke died immediately before the... Learn More
