The Works of Virgil

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John Dryden, Virgil,

The Works of Virgil

London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1697

A Rare and Magnificent Large-Paper copy of the First Edition of Dryden’s Virgil, printed at London in 1697 and adorned with 101 full page plates. 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.

$6,000.00

A Rare and Magnificent Large-Paper copy of the First Edition of Dryden’s Virgil, printed at London in 1697 and adorned with 101 full page plates. 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.

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A Rare and Magnificent Large-Paper copy of the First Edition of Dryden’s Virgil, printed at London in 1697 and adorned with 101 full page plates. 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.

The volume(s) measure about 45 cm. by 29 cm. by 8.4 cm.

Each leaf measures about 442 mm. by 277 mm.

The Works of Virgil: containing his Pastorals, Georgics, and Aeneis. Translated into English verse; by Mr. Dryden. Adorn’d with a hundred sculptures. / London: / Printed for Jacob Tonson, at the Judges-Head in Fleetstreet, near the Inner-Temple-Gate, MDCXCVII [1697].”

The volume is complete in all respects and comprises 640 numbered pages, plus the title, preliminaries and plates; it collates [ ]2, A2, *4, **4, ***2, ****2, *****2, +2, ++2 x1, B-G4, [P]4, [PP]2, H-T4, U2; (a)-(f)4, Aa-Zz4, Aaa-Zzz4, Aaaa-Ffff4, Gggg2, Hhhh-Iiii4, Kkkk2.

The volume may be referenced as Wing V616A, MacDonald 33A, and by ESTC online system number 006128533.

The volume is, in itself, one of the most impressive productions of an English poetical work ever published. It contains 101 stunning full-page plates, including the engraved title, most of which were updated from the Ogilby edition of 1654 (humorously, the updating included making the depictions of Aeneas look less like Charles II and more like William III). The plates are after designs by Hollar, Van der Gucht, Cleyn and Lombart. 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).

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The volume is in excellent condition internally, with clean pages, clear print and wide margins throughout. There are water-stains, confined to the bottom gutter on some of the preliminary and ending pages, as well as some edge and corner browning, especially on the last page. The plates are remarkably fresh, strong and early impressions in nearly all cases. All fine examples. An occasional page or plate is browned; this is owing to the paper used by the printer and is a difficulty in almost all copies of the first edition. The volume was completely rebound probably mid 20th Century, in half calf over marbled boards, which are somewhat scuffed, but generally the binding remains in very good shape with no split hinges or other major problems.

The volume measures 45 cm by 29 cm by 8.4 cm; each leaf measures 442 mm by 277 mm.

Concerning the Large Paper Copies.

Originally Dryden’s contract with Tonson was to see all Large Paper Copies printed on Fine Paper. However, in 1697 the paper trade was disrupted by war and then in March 1697 after the printing of Virgil had begun, the British government imposed a tax of 25% on all fine paper imported into England. A tax that would not be changed until 1699. As the Virgil was printed in three stages (see Barnard[1]) it meant that certain sections printed later, on available paper stocks, were not of the best quality. Barnard looked at 10 LP copies, and with the exception of Quire B, all the incidence of poor paper is found in those sheets printed last. Quire B had to be reset and reprinted at the last minute due to a printer’s error. Our copy tracks closely with the Bodleian Libraries copy, but with the two sheets before the two subscriber lists and the subscriber lists printed on fine paper. Additionally, 13 plates were printed on poor paper in our copy, similar to other known copies. The plates like the preliminaries, were printed after the main body of text was completed and the publisher had to mix in poorer paper during the plate production. It should be pointed out that the majority of text and plates are printed on fine paper, and though the poorer paper has browned somewhat, it still remains strong and supple after almost 325 years.

The subscribers’ copies were printed on Large Paper; some measure 444 mm x 277 mm (17 ½ x 10 7/8) others 425 mm x 277 mm (16 ¾ x 10 7/8). Our copy measures 442 mm x 277 mm, trimmed slightly by the binder and gilt applied to the top of the book block. Small paper copies were considerably cut down at 355 mm x 226 mm (14 x 8 7/8) and were printed on poorer paper stock. There were 350 large paper and 350+ small paper copies printed in 1697. In 1698 Tonson published a second folio edition of around 1,000 copies.

The plates were printed for the Large Paper copies first, the better impressions reserved for the first level of subscribers (the tallest copies), with the Small Paper impressions on inferior paper last.

Virgil

Publius Virgilius Maro, who flourished during the reign of Augustus Caesar, was indisputably the greatest of the Latin poets, and his Aeneid the greatest of Latin poems. Traditionally, Virgil has been the only worthy peer of Homer amongst ancient poets. The complete works of Virgil are present in this beautifully-printed edition. They comprise the ‘Georgics,’ ‘Bucolics’ (or ‘Eclogues’), and the great ‘Aeneid,’ the single finest work of Latin literature, telling the story of the exodus from Troy and the founding of Rome.

Dryden’s translation of Virgil was acknowledged by his contemporaries as a masterwork, and has retained that status across the centuries since; it is the definitive English Virgil. Pope, Swift and Johnson were of one voice in their praise of Dryden’s effort.

[1] “The Large- and Small-Paper Copies of Dryden’s “The Works of Virgil” (1697): Jacob Tonson’s Investment and Profits and the Example of “Paradise Lost” (1688)” Bibliographical Society of America, 1998.

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