Aristotle | Politiques, 1598, tree calf

Aristotle

Politiques, or Discourses of Government. London: Adam Islip, 1598

Folio (290 x 195 mm), FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH, large woodcut device on title, woodcut decorations and initials, tree calf, rebacked, lacking initial and terminal blanks (A1 and 2N6), repair to title page, closed tear not affecting text to S1

"...But he that can not abide to live in companie, or through sufficiencie hath need of nothing, is not esteemed a part or member of a Cittie, but is either a beast or a God..." (p.15)

This first English edition of Aristotle’s Politics was translated into English by John Dickenson from Louis Le Roy's French translation of 1568, rather than from the original Greek.

PROVENANCE:

Hilda Stewart Reid, novelist (1898-1982), pencil inscription on front free endpapers ("Bought by Hilda Reid in about 1919, for seven shilling which might have been spent on grey suede shoes (costing 30 shillings)")

LITERATURE:

ESTC S106844; Pforzheimer 10 (“Although both Herbert and Lowndes state that this work was issued in 1597, as well as in 1598, no copy with the earlier date can be traced. Indeed, it is not improbable that they are in error for the book was not entered until 21st April 1598 when the entry reads 'to be translated'")