About this Item
London: Simbutis Priestleu, 1821, 850pp including the index. Text in Latin. Rebound in full calf (some time ago) with the original spine laid on. Externally sound and attractive, internally with marks and foxing. Quintus Horatius Flaccus (8 December 65 BC 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his Odes as just about the only Latin lyrics worth reading: "He can be lofty sometimes, yet he is also full of charm and grace, versatile in his figures, and felicitously daring in his choice of words." Horace also crafted elegant hexameter verses (Satires and Epistles) and caustic iambic poetry (Epodes). The hexameters are amusing yet serious works, friendly in tone, leading the ancient satirist Persius to comment: "as his friend laughs, Horace slyly puts his finger on his every fault; once let in, he plays about the heartstrings". His career coincided with Rome's momentous change from a republic to an empire. An officer in the republican army defeated at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, he was befriended by Octavian's right-hand man in civil affairs, Maecenas, and became a spokesman for the new regime. For some commentators, his association with the regime was a delicate balance in which he maintained a strong measure of independence (he was "a master of the graceful sidestep") but for others he was, in John Dryden's phrase, "a well-mannered court slave". Approximately 9 ¼ inches tall. Condition Report Externally Spine good condition old spine laid on new binding (historic repair), gilt titles on a red label, 5 raised gilt bands dividing 6 compartments, 5 of which have gilt decoration, there is a small part of the leather missing to the old spine in the bottom compartment. Joints good condition sound. Corners good condition. Boards good condition brown leather boards with blind tooled borders. Page edges good condition top edge slightly darkened, fore and bottom edges with some red staining. See above and photos. Internally Hinges good condition sound. Paste downs good condition plain paste downs. End papers good condition plain end papers, some of the free end papers are lightly tanned and foxed, on one of the free end papers there is a hand written message in the top right hand corner dated 1833. Title good condition tanned and foxed with b/w vignette. Pages good condition b/w frontispiece, text is in Latin, pages are tanned and foxed throughout. Binding good condition sound. See photos Publisher: see above. Publication Date: 1831 Binding: Hardback. Seller Inventory # ABE-1557857461180
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