“FRANCIS HAS DONE IT THE BEST” (SAMUEL JOHNSON): THIRD EDITION OF FRANCIS’ FAMED TRANSLATION OF HORACE’S WORKS
(HORACE) FRANCIS, Philip, Revd. A Poetical Translation of the Works of Horace, with the Original Text, and Critical Notes Collected from His Best Latin and French Commentators. London: A. Millar, 1749. Two volumes. Large quarto (10 by 12 inches), contemporary full brown tree calf gilt rebacked with original spines laid down, original red and black morocco spine labels.
Third edition of Philip Francis’ complete translation of Horace’s Works, a handsome two-volume wide-margined copy, scarce in contemporary tree calf.
On English translations of Horace, Samuel Johnson commented: “The lyrical part of Horace never can be perfectly translated. Francis has done it the best. I’ll take his five out of six against them all” (DNB). Contemporary critics agreed with Johnson, praising the Francis translation for being “highly Horatian … moral without dullness, gay and spirited with propriety, and tender without whining … Few translations have gone through more editions, or met with greater applause from the public” (Bruggemann, 598). “Francis’ achievement is to have made himself at home in the Odes more completely than any other translator had done’ (Carne-Ross and Haynes). Francis’ complete Horace was first published in 1747. With parallel texts in Latin and English. Splendid engraved frontispiece portraits in both volumes, engraved plate (V.II). Each volume with a rear page of publisher’s ads. Lowndes, 1117. Allibone, 629. Light contemporary marginalia.
Interiors fresh, light edge-wear to boards. A highly desirable near-fine copy.