Gilbert Burnet Translator (4 results)

Trade Paperback. Condition: New. Support Small Business by buying this book! This book is where the term 'utopia' comes from, inspiring generations with its vision of an ideal society.

Full Leather. Condition: Very Good. As. viii, liv, [2, errata, blank], 142 pp. 12mo. Full leather binding with light chipping and wear at edges. Gold embossed decoration and titling to the spine, a red and green wash has been applied to the cover boards in horizontal stripes. Front hinge of board has split, but cords and cover still tight to text block. Small 2"x1/2" piece cut from upper right corner of title page along with an early price in ink. Staining to title page, slight darkening to pages within due to age.…

Leather. Condition: Good. A contemporary reissue of the 1751 edition of Thomas More's seminal work, prefixed with an account of More's life and trial. A reissue of the Newbery 1751 edition (also scarce), with a new title page. To this edition is added a short account of the life and trial of Sir Thomas More, and the prayer written by him whilst a prisoner in the Tower. Translated from the Latin by Gilbert Burnet, late Bishop of Sarum. Revised, corrected and improved by "A Gentleman of Oxford", i.e. Thomas Williamson. In a contemporary full calf binding, lacking the original front free endpaper. Engraved head and tail pieces. Four final advertisment leaves. ESTC No.T85447 Register: A-I12. Collated, complete. Thomas More's pioneering work describes the political, religious and social systems of an imaginary island state, many aspects of which critics note are reminiscent of life in monasteries. First publihsed in the Latin in 1516, Utopia influenced numerous early works that utilised More's idea of imagined parallel realities, including Candide by Voltaire and New Atlantis by Francis Bacon. In a contemporary full calf binding, lacking the original front free endpaper.Externally, front joint is strained, rear joint tender. Rubbing to the extremities, resulting in loss to the head and tail of the spine. A few marks and spots to the boards. Armorial bookplate to the front paste down. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are generally bright and clean, with offsetting to the endpapers and title page and occasional light scattered spots. Minor loss to corner of signature B11. Good. None (illustrator). book.…

The most important philosophical text of the English Renaissance which coined the term 'utopia'. The first edition of Gilbert Burnet's translation of this enigmatic work by Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) which continues to defy simple interpretation. As Burnet (1643-1715) noted in his preface, 'I do not think. More himself went in heartily to that which is the chief Basis of his Utopia, the taking away of all Property, and the levelling of the World; but that he only intended to set many Notions in his Reader's way; and that he might not seem too much in earnest, he went so far out of all Roads to do it the less suspected'. The tale begins when More encounters the fictional character Raphael Hythloday, a traveller who has just returned from voyages with Amerigo Vespucci. Hythloday tells More of a distant island called Utopia, where all property is held in common and gold and silver are used not as currency but as the materials for making shackles and chamber pots. However, all is not as it seems, and the paradoxes in the names of Hythloday ('the nonsense speaker') and Utopia ('nowhere') reveal a more complex story. Burnet's translation was completed in 1684 during in a low period of his life when he was out of royal favour. He found in More an unlikely ally; a fellow victim of political circumstance, who was 'one of the greatest Men that this Island has produced' (Preface). 'This translation, though not so frequently reprinted. is, in some respects, much superior, and certainly presents a more readable text' (Pforzheimer). First edition of the Burnet translation; 8vo (18 x 11 cm); woodcut device to title and headpieces, with original blank ff., a strong impression with some consequent offsetting, old note from Bernard Quaritch Ltd loose to front endpapers; contemporary mottled calf, expertly rebacked, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece to spine, marbled edges, old abrasions, very good; [24], 206, [2]pp. ESTC R7176; Wing M2691; Gibson 30; Sabin 50546; Pforzheimer 742; cf.PMM 47.…