Author: HERODOTUS.
Title: ???d?t?? ????a???ss??? ?st????? ????? ? ep???af?µe??? ???sa?. Herodoti Halicarnassei Historiarum Libri IX. Musarum nominibus inscripti. Gr. et Lat. ex Laur. Vallae interpretatione, cum adnotationibus Thomae Galei et Iacobi Gronovii. Editionem curavit et suas itemque Lud. Casp. Valckenarii notas adiecit Petrus Wesselingius. Accedunt praeter vitam Homeri varia ex priscis scriptoribus de Persis, Aegyptiis, Nilo, Indisque excerpta et praesertim ex Ctesia.
Description: Amstelodami, Sumptibus Petri Schovtenii. 1763. FIRST EDITION. Large folio (in 4s), 403 x 250 mms., pp. [xxvi, including engraved title-page before printed title-page, 868, [2], 177 [178 - 240 indexes, 241 - 244 errata], title-page printed in red and black, engraved vignette on title-page, folding engraved plate between pages 167 and 168, engraved vignettes within text in second pagination at pages 119, 158, and 170, Greek text and Latin translation in parallel columns, splendidly bound in full late 19th century straight-grain red morocco, small gilt rule as border on covers, gilt borders with scrolls to a floral motif, inner gilt panel with half diamond gilt ornaments on covers, with circular armorial ornament with the text "The Trustees of the Rugby Charity, Founded by Lawrence Sheriff" within circle on front cover, and on the rear cover within a gilt laurel leaves decoration, "Studiis Feliciter Coeptis", below which is the name "Johannes W. Pugh," spine richly gilt in compartments, title in gilt, gilt dentelles; some very minor blemishes to binding, but a fine and attractive copy. The stunning binding, bearing the Latinized name "Johannes W. Pugh", was almost certainly meant to celebrate the academic attainments of John William Pugh (1810-1852), one of the best students at Rugby School at the time. He was First Rugby Exhibitioner in 1828, going from Rugby to Balliol College in the University of Oxford. He gained his B.A. in 1832, and qualified for the M.A. in 1834. He was later curate at Ettinghall, Staffordshire, and still later the longtime Vicar of Llandilo Vawr in Wales. Sadly, he died young in 1852. To his schoolfellow the Archbishop of Canterbury, he was "dear old John William Pugh, a truly Christian friend, two years older than myself. This man, though never known in public life, was one of the truly saintly characters I have ever met" (Life of Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1891, Vol. 1, p. 40). The binding is particularly remarkable for, it would seem, commemorating the passage of one of the best students at one of the greatest public schools of the kingdom to one of the two greatest universities in the kingdom. The work of the various scholars initially responsible for this edition were Thomas Gale (1635 - 1702) and Jacobus Gronovius (1645 - 1716), Lorenzo Valla (1407 - 1457), Petrus Wesseling (1692 - 1764), and Lodewijk Caspar Valckenare (1715 - 1785), while the illustrators and engravers were Hieronymus van der My (1687-1761) and François van Bleyswyck (1671 - 1746). Herodotus is often described as "The father of history," though Plutarch described him as "the father of lies." He achieved cinematic fame in The English Patient (1992): the only possession that the patient had was a copy of Herodotus's histories, which, when read aloud to him, stimulated memories of his time in the desert but not his identity. Dibdin described this as the optimal edition (II, 23 - 24). This 1763 edition was, of course, the edition that Edward Gibbon owned, with some 3300 words of annotations by Gibbon (that copy is now in Cambridge University Library). The CUL website explains that Geoffrey Keynes "came across the volume when examining books at Sotheby's before the sale, and noticed that the copious annotations in Gibbon's hand had not been mentioned in the sale catalogue. He put in a bid of £10 and, after a short battle with a London bookseller -- who was unaware of the folio's significance -- acquired the book for £26. He was later offered £100 for it by the London bookseller Lionel Robinson -- who was acting on behalf of Lord Rothschild -- but decided to keep it, eventually letting it go for £200." Gibbon did not often annotate his books, but he seems to have been sceptical, or at least bemused, by some of the "facts" disclosed by Herodotus, e.g., the singer Arion was alleged to have been saved from drowning by a dolphin who let him ride on his or her back; Gibbon comments, "An odd digression and most unphilosophical fable! Since it supposes the friendship of a man and a Sea-fish (a sort of porpess Pennant's British Zoology Vol iii p. 4) and the exquisite sensibility of a deaf animal to the sound of a Lyre." Dibdin described this as the optimal edition (II, 23 - 24). This 1763 edition was, of course, the edition that Edward Gibbon owned, with some 3300 words of annotations by Gibbon, is now in Cambridge University Library. The CUL website explains that Geoffrey Keynes "came across the volume when examining books at Sotheby's before the sale, and noticed that the copious annotations in Gibbon's hand had not been mentioned in the sale catalogue. He put in a bid of £10 and, after a short battle with a London bookseller – who was unaware of the folio's significance – acquired the book for £26. He was later offered £100 for it by the London bookseller Lionel Robinson – who was acting on behalf of Lord Rothschild – but decided to keep it, eventually letting it go for £200." Gibbon did not often annotate his books, but he seems to have been sceptical, or at least bemused, by some of the "facts" disclosed by Herodotus, e. g., the singer Arion was alleged to have been saved from drowning by a dolphin who let him ride on his or her back; Giboon comments "An odd digression and most unphilosophical fable! Since it supposes the friendship of a man and a Sea-fish (a sort of porpess Pennant's British Zoology Vol iii p. 4) and the sensibility of a deaf animal to the sound of a Lyre." COPAC finds eleven printed copies in UK libraries; OCLC WorldCat adds Wisconsin and Princeton, though a large number of hits in WorldCat turn out to be electronic copies.

Keywords: classics provenance engraved vignette on p. 170


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