Homer | Homer His Iliads [Homer His Odysses], London, 1660; 1665, 2 volumes, translated by Ogilby

From the Library of Clayre and Jay Michael Haft

Homer

His Iliads [His Odysses] Translated, Adorn'd with Sculpture and Illustrated with Annotations by John Ogilby. London: Thomas Roycroft for the author, 1660; 1665

FIRST EDITIONS, 2 volumes, folio (398 x 267mm.), Iliad: engraved author portrait, engraved allegorical frontispiece, engraved portrait of King Charles II, 50 further engraved plates; Odyssey: printed dedications to Prince James and King Charles II, engraved allegorical frontispiece, 24 further engraved plates, uniformly bound in modern quarter calf over marbled boards, Iliad: allegorical frontispiece shaved at outer margin, dampstaining to early leaves, tape repair to verso of plate 23 (with minor loss); both volumes: a few small closed tears, extremities slightly browned

First editions of Ogilby's translations of Homer, with fine accompanying engravings, which were a feature of Ogilby publications (such as his Aesop and Vergil). Ogilby was not a classical scholar but he imbued his translation with monarchical ideals appropriate to the recent restoration of Charles II, to whom the book is dedicated.

LITERATURE:

Wing H2548 & H2554

PROVENANCE:

Hornby Roughsedge (d.1859): ownership inscription to Iliad