"THE MOST HUMAN OF ALL BOOKS": 1634 FIRST ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF MARCUS AURELIUS' MEDITATIONS

AURELIUS, Marcus. The Roman Emperor, His Meditations Concerning Himselfe: Treating of a Naturall Mans happinesse; Wherein it consisteth, and of the meanes to attaine unto it. London: Printed by M. Flesher, for Richard Mynne, 1634. Small quarto (5-1/2 by 7-1/2 inches), mid-20th-century full polished brown calf. raised bands. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

First edition of the first English translation of "one of the world's great classics" (Rosenbach) of Stoic philosophy.

The Meditations have been considered by many "one of the great books of all time… one of the most precious legacies of antiquity. Renan even called them 'the most human of all books'" (Britannica). Wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance are the cornerstones of Aurelius' Meditations. An early and influential precursor of humanism who was Emperor of Rome from 161-180 CE, Aurelius "possessed a gift which has been granted to few, the power of writing down what was in his heart just as it was, not obscured by any consciousness of the presence of witnesses or any striving after effect… He does not seem to have tried deliberately to reveal himself, yet he has… in a work which was not meant to be read by the public; broken flames of the white passion that consumed him bursting through the armor of his habitual accuracy and self-restraint" (Murray, Four Stages of Greek Religion, 159-60). His Meditations "are a collection of maxims and thoughts in the spirit of the Stoic philosophy, which… breathe the purist sentiments of piety and benevolence" (Peck, 90).

"No one would now dare write a book like Marcus Aurelius' To Himself, or, as we call it in English, The Meditations, and present it to the world as philosophy. He didn't either. But once published, these, his most intimate thoughts, were considered among the most precious of all philosophical utterances by his contemporaries, by all Western Civilization after they returned to favor at the Renaissance, and most especially by the Victorian English, amongst whom The Meditations was a household book" (Rexroth, Classics Revisited, 112). Aurelius' innermost reflections were written "in the midst of public business, and on the eve of battles on which the fate of the empire depended—hence their fragmentary appearance, but hence also much of their practical value… But above all, what gives the sentences of Marcus Aurelius their enduring value and fascination is that they are the gospel of his life. His precepts are simply the record of his practice… preserving, in a time of universal corruption, unreality and self-indulgence, a nature sweet, pure, self-denying, unaffected" (Britannica). This translation by Meric Casaubon (son of the great scholar Isaac Casaubon) is the first directly into English; Casaubon's elegant and scholarly translation was still being reprinted in the 20th century. In 1643, Casaubon edited, with notes, a Latin edition of the Meditations (DNB). With ornamental woodcut-engraved initials and type-ornaments; with plate depicting Roman pottery, not present in all copies. With side notes; without initial blank. Signature F3 mis-signed "E3" as issued without loss of text. STC 962. Palmer, 16. Harris, 100. ESTC S100316. See Brueggemann I:342-43. Graesse, 153. Armorial bookplate of Philadelphia architect Hamilton Vogdes. Esteemed for his service as Director of Planning and Development in Philadelphia, he was also a dedicated bibliophile who was a member of the Bibliographical Society of America and the Pennsylvania Historical Society. Early inked marginalia and underlining.

Interior fresh with only lightest scattered foxing, joints of bright gilt-lettered calf binding expertly repaired. A splendid near-fine copy.