The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Aeneid. Translated into English Verse; By Mr. Dryden Virgil, John Dryden (translator)

The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Aeneid. Translated into English Verse; By Mr. Dryden Adorn'd with a Hundred Sculptures. ***Second Dryden Folio Edition with his tour-de-force translation from Latin into English & extraordinary engravings. One of the most desired and collected Virgil editions in the world. Condition: VG w/detached front board. Collated and complete, all 102 total plates PROVENANCE: From the Virgil Collection of Craig Kallendorf (1954 - 2023), who owned the largest private collection of antiquarian Virgil works (1,150 editions, not including Incunable books) in the world. Only a handful of prominent institutions like the British Library had larger collections. Eighth-nine of the books in his collection were the only known surviving copies, 71 only had one other known copy. He worked closely with Princeton University in helping to assemble, supplement and catalog its Junius Spencer Morgan Virgil collection. Craig Kallendorf was Professor of English and Classics at Texas A&M University. He was the author or editor of 27 books and more than 170 articles, book chapters, and reference work entries. ABOUT THE BOOK Published in 1698 in London by Jacob Tonson. Second edition, as stated on title page. Bound in later polished mottled 1/2 calf over 18th century marbled paper fine binding: spine with five raised gilt-bordered bands with a gilt lettered burgundy morocco spine label in compartment two and a gilt tooled emblem in the other compartments; all edges stained yellow. Folio, 13.25" x 9", [2], 690 pp. with 101 engraved full-page plates (10, Bucolics, 20 Georgics, 71 Aeneid) as called for and the engraved frontispiece. Each plate dedicated to a prominent member of society and subscriber who paid 5 guineas for the honor. Title page in red and black. ABOUT DRYDEN'S VIRGIL TRANSLATION In 1694 he began work on what would be his most ambitious and defining work as translator, The Works of Virgil (1697), which was published by subscription. The publication of the translation of Virgil was a national event and brought Dryden the sum of £1,400 - a princely profit in the day! Dryden's Virgil is all that one could hope for in an English edition of the greatest Roman poet: it combines the finest suite of illustrations to accompany a post-Renaissance Virgil, with the finest translation of Virgil in English (an extraordinary improvement over Ogilby's pedestrian rhymes). "Dryden's translation of Vergil" says Pope, (whose own translation of Homer was inspired by Dryden's work) "is the most noble and spirited translation I know in any language." CONDITION REPORT: VG with detached front board Collated and complete text and plates with refreshed endpapers and blanks. 18th century boards with the old leather replaced with 19th century polished mottled calf and a rebacked leather spine. Square spine, front board detached and adhered using heavy duty hinge tape. Rear hinge also reinforced. Heavily rubbed marbled paper. Extremities, rear joint and a few spine bands rubbed. Top text block edge darkened. The pages show a wide range of foxing levels from very light or sporadic to heavy. Most of the plate are well-struck and clean but there are multiple plates showing oxidation or light foxing while others look brand new. No marginalia. A few instances of marginal worming, mostly to bottom page margins. Signs of handling - smudges, some ink blots, some creasing and multiple bent page corners, a few small margin tears. Offsetting from the plates in multiple instances. Several instances of light water dampening along the top margins of multiple leaves of text. Some pencil writing on the endpapers and blanks and Kallendorf's ex libris sticker on the FFEP. All in all, this is the second edition of the definitive English Virgil, one of the greatest works of poetry in English, and one of the most beautiful productions of a literary work in English with all of its astounding illustrations intact.