Philosophie, commonlie called, The Morals First Edition - Plutarch - Bauman Rare Books

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Philosophie, commonlie called, The Morals

PLUTARCH

Item#: 72074 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Philosophie, commonlie called, The Morals

Philosophie, commonlie called, The Morals

Philosophie, commonlie called, The Morals

Philosophie, commonlie called, The Morals

Philosophie, commonlie called, The Morals

“A PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON RENAISSANCE THINKING”: IMPORTANT 1603 FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH OF PLUTARCH’S MORALS

PLUTARCH. The Philosophie; commonlie called, The Morals… Translated out of Greeke into English… by Philemon Holland…. London: Arnold Hatfield, 1603. Thick folio (8-1/2 by 13 inches), period style full brown calf gilt, red morocco spine label, raised bands. Housed in a custom clamshell box.

First edition in English of Plutarch’s complete Moralia, containing all of the famous philosopher’s surviving writings on ethical, religious, physical, political and literary topics.

The ideas Plutarch expressed in the Morals exerted a profound influence on Renaissance thinking. They revived the rational moral philosophy of the ancients while providing an indispensable contemporary account of Greek political life. This important first English language edition, "a most accurate translation" by Holland, contains over 70 essays, primarily in dialogue form (Lowndes, 1891). "Holland's translations are faithful and readable. Fuller designates him the 'translator generall in his age" (DNB). This translation greatly influenced the 1612 edition of Bacon's Essays, which contain counsels on public morality and private virtue recognizably derived from Plutarch. Most of Holland's translations were issued in heavy folios such as this, leading Pope to describe the "groaning shelves" bending under the weight of Holland's works. Includes "Of the Nouriture and Education of Children," "Of Brotherly Love," "Of Superstition," "Instructions for them that manage affaires of State," "Whether an aged man ought to manage publike affaires" and "The vertuous deeds of Women." With decorative woodcut head- and tailpieces and historiated initials. With errata. STC 20063. Brueggemann, 320. Old owner signature to title page, scattered marginalia.

Occasional minor marginal closed tears. A near-fine copy in a beautiful period style binding.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
Association Copy copy that belonged to someone connected with the author or the contents of a book.
Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
Book-Plate Label, generally affixed to the front pastedown, identifying a book’s owner.
Broadside Sheet printed on one side, typically for public display, usually larger than folio size (a folio being a broadside-size sheet printed on both sides and folded once, to make four pages).
Calf Binding material made from cowhide—versatile, durable, usually tan or brown in color, of smooth texture with no or little apparent grain. Readily marbled (“tree calf”), mottled, diced, colored, polished, tooled in gilt or blind, even scented (known as “russia”). Reverse calf, with a distinctive suede-like texture, is occasionally used.
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Doublure Pastedowns made not of paper but of leather, for decorative purposes.
Duodecimo (12MO) Smaller than an octavo, typically less than six inches tall; smaller formats, such as 24mo and 32mo, are uncommon.
Edition Print-run from a single setting of type without substantial change. Depending on demand, any number of printings can be made from a setting of type For example, a first printing might consist of 1000 copies, followed by a second printing of 2500 copies; in which case the book would have a first edition, first printing of 1000 copies, and a first edition, second printing of 2500 copies.
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Errata List of mistakes and corrections noted after printing, often compiled on a separate sheet or slip and inserted into the text block.
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Half Title Leaf preceding the title page that bears the book’s title, originally used to identify the unbound text block. The book’s binder would often remove and discard the half title at the time of binding. Remaining half-titles are therefore of interest to collectors.
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Japanese Vellum Expensive handmade paper often used in deluxe editions.
Lithograph Illustration produced by transferring an image drawn on a carefully prepared stone to paper. The process allowed illustrations to more closely resemble the original drawings, paintings or sketches, as it gave the lithographer a freedom of line impossible to achieve in earlier intaglio and relief processes. It does not require the same sort of pressure as an engraving to transfer the image, but still has to be printed on separate stock from the text
Marginalia Handwritten notes made in the margins by a previous owner.
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Morocco Binding material made from goatskin—versatile, durable, with a distinctive pebbled texture and visible grain. Readily stretched (“straight-grain”), crushed (flattened smooth), tooled in gilt or blind, inlaid with leathers of different colors. So-called because much of the raw material originally came from the tanneries of North Africa (other types of goatskin bindings denoting regions of origin include levant, turkey, niger).
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Period-Style binding executed with materials, tools and techniques to approximate the look of a contemporary binding from the period of the book’s publication. The term implies that the binding is modern, or recent, unless otherwise specified.
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Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
Wormhole Tiny pinhole-sized trails left by bookworms as they eat through a text block. Much more common in older books printed on handmade papers with a high rag content than in books printed on manufactured papers made from wood pulp with a higher acidic content.
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