About this Item
Small duodecimo (6.5 inches). First English edition. ix + 1 page (Approbation) + 346 pages + 18 pages (Index + Errata). Engraved frontispiece plate of coins. Contemporary full brown calf, raised bands on spine, red title-piece, gilt. Binding somewhat rubbed from general wear, corners bumped, front outer hinge cracked (but entirely functional). Internally clean. Emperor Julian (whose full name was Flavius Claudius Julianus, c.331-363) was the last non-Christian ruler of the Roman Empire from 361 to 363, and was also a noted philosopher and author in Greek. During his brief reign, he sought to strengthen the Roman empire (which had suffered under fifty years of Christian dominance) by restoring the ancient spiritual foundations that had nourished it for over a thousand years. His legacy and vision as a true spiritual and temporal ruler are inspiring testaments to the strength and brilliance of the Hellenic religious tradition. The Life of the Emperor Julian was originally written in French by Jean Philippe Rene de la Bleterie (1696-1772) and published in 1735. La Bleterie was a scholar of rhetoric and ecclesiastical history. The work was translated into English by the Welsh poet Anna Williams (1706-1783), a close companion of the writer and man of letters Samuel Johnson (1709-1784). PROVENANCE: From the library of Ambrose Isted of Ecton, Northants (1718-1780), with his signature and library code on the front free endpaper and armorial bookplate affixed to the rear of the title page. Isted was an English lawyer and absentee owner of Mickleton Plantation, Jamaica between 1763 and 1766. He inherited the sugar and rum plantation, together with about 100 Negro slaves, from his mother, Anne Isted (who inherited from her father Fulke Rose in 1694). ALSO (much later) from the library of Charles Muses (1919-2000), with his typical scholarly marginalia scrawl in pencil and ballpoint ink (as seen on pages 37, 223, 246, 254, 270, 278, 301, 302, 311, 314, 315, 309-325, the outer rear endpaper, and rear pastedown). Muses was a mathematician, cyberneticist, and esoteric philosopher who had controversial views relating to mathematics, physics, philosophy, and other fields. Seller Inventory # 261
Contact seller
Report this item
