The Pharsalia of Lucan

2 vol. Large 8vo. [6], vii-xxviii, [1], 2-277, [3]; [6], vii[2], 2-315, [1] pp. Quarter buckram cloth over blue paper boards, each spine with a paper label printed in black. Title pages printed in red and black, each volume with an errata slip, and a little publisher's ticket in the rear. The Humphreys deluxe edition of Lucan's Pharsalia, printed on hand-made paper. Oxford Classical Dictionary, 94-95. Marcus Annaeus Lucanus was born in the early 1st century A.C.E., and was a prolific writer. He served as an augur and a quaestor at the behest of Emperor Nero, but would be sentenced to self-execution after he participated in Piso's conspiracy against Nero. His epic poem, mistakenly known as Pharsalia (De bello civili is the correct title), covers events from 49-48 B.C. The poem begins with Caesar crossing the Rubicon and ends with Caesar in Alexandria. Lucan's sources includes the lost books of Livy and Caesar's own writings, but the poet freely changes the historical truth to suit his literary purposes. Lucan's own reactions to the events of the story are inserted, and he views the Roman Civil Wars as grim and horrific. Pompey, Caesar, and Cato are the three main characters of the epic, with hyperbole, paradox, apostrophe, epigram, and lengthy speeches all used as prominent literary devices in Lucan's magnum opus. A Very Good set with the paper boards faded to tan and minor bumping to the corners, two names on the front flyleaves.…