£4,000 - £6,000
Caesar, Julius (100-44 BCE).
The Commentaries of Caesar. Translated by William Duncan.
London: for J. and R. Tonson, S. Draper, and R. Dodsley, 1753.
Frontispiece, (6), civ, 335pp, [10]. 84 engraved illustrations, maps, and plans, 61 of which double-page or folding.
A fresh first edition of Duncan's translation of Caesar's account of the Gallic wars, with large and striking engravings. Duncan was a professor at the University of Aberdeen, where Caesar's characterization of the brawny and austere Celts appealed to intellectuals of the Scottish Enlightenment. Caesar's descriptions of the Druids—including the iconic plate depicting a Wicker Man—helped spark a growing interest in the pre-Roman history of Britain and laid the groundwork for the Celtic Revival. Several of the plates are copied from Harriot's A briefe and true report of the new found land of Virginia, in which the Indigenous inhabitants of Virginia are compared to the Picts. A large folding engraving depicts a buffalo, comparing it to European ungulates to illustrate Caesar's famous passage on the Unicorn. ESTC T136453.
Condition: general toning and occasional browning. A few tears in places, mainly to margins. Folio, Contemporary calf (front board detached, rear joint starting). 420mm x 260mm
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