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- The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer.
The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer.
(Cowper, William)
Joseph T. Buckingham, ( 1814), Boston
4 vol. 23.5 cm. xxiv, 370, (1 errata); 423; 324; 309, (1 errata) pp.
Price: $500
Let’s see… Odysseus sailed on a ship, right? Sometimes there’s no explaining affairs of the heart. William Cowper first published his translations of Homer in London, 1791. This Boston printing is identified on the half title of vol. I as “The first American from the second London edition.” I’ve never read Cowper’s translation and probably never will, but the thing that grabbed me about this set is that it is bound as issued in publisher’s boards. Yes, there’s some wear to the backstrips, but you just don’t find sets like this anymore. See S&S 31752. The pages, evenly foxed and tanned, are untrimmed, and look as if I’m not the only one who’s never read this set. The lower corner of pp. 161/162 is torn but complete, with no loss of text. Three 1/4 inch marginal wormholes between pages 148 and 354 in vol I, not affecting text, and a teeny one on a few pages in the lower corner of vol. IV, likewise not affecting the text.
