Vergilius Maro, Publius

4to (198 x 145mm.), woodcut initials, later calf decorated in blind, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, some early underlinings in ink, lacking title page and B1-8 (other preliminaries), also lacking text leaves C3, P4-6, T3, and all after q3 (i.e. q4-8, r-2b⁸), C1 washed and repaired, some occasional heavy damp-staining, other repairs to some leaves, later repair to hinges

Walter Sneyd, book-label; William O'Brien, bequest booklabel dated 1899

The Rev. Walter Sneyd (1809-1888) was a substantial collector of manuscripts and books. In 1835 he acquired around 915 manuscripts from the collection of the Venetian Jesuit Matteo Luigi Canonici (1727-1805), the rest of whose collection had been bought by the Bodleian Library in 1817. The Sneyd Library was dispersed at Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge on 16-19 December 1903, a large number of the manuscripts being bought by C. Fairfax Murray. Another (complete) copy of the present work was sold as lot 850.

STC 24797; Grolier, Langland to Wither 61; Pforzheimer 1027

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

A RARE COPY OF ONE OF THE FIRST GREAT CLASSICS OF SCOTTISH LITERATURE.

This translation of Vergil's Aeneid by Gavin Douglas (c.1476-1522), the bishop of Dunkeld, is the first into Scots English, and the first into any vernacular British tongue, predating by some years the earliest English translation. Earlier vulgar Vergilian versions, such as Chaucer's Legends of Dido and Caxton's Eneydos, were more like free adaptations of Vergil's text. "In the early 1500s no major classical work had been translated into English, and Douglas's Eneados was a pioneering work... Douglas shared the values of the humanists: an antipathy to scholasticism, respect for classical authors, and a zeal for education. He wished to communicate to his countrymen a knowledge of the Aeneid, and also to enrich his native ‘Scottis’ tongue with something of the ‘fouth’, or copiousness, of Latin" (ODNB).

"Douglas gets more poetry out of Virgil than any other translator" (Ezra Pound, Literary Essays, 1954)