Life of Marcus Tullius Cicero (Two Volumes in One. Stunning Binding.)
New York: Charles Scribner, 1871. Illustrated. Third American Edition. Hardcover. A narrative life, not a study of Cicero’s philosophy. Forsyth follows the career in order and leans heavily on Cicero’s letters and speeches: youth and education; rise at the bar; consulship and the Catilinarian conspiracy; exile and return; clash with Clodius; the Milo affair; proconsulate in Cilicia; hesitation in the civil war; divorce from Terentia; Caesar’s dictatorship and death; the Philippics against Antony; capture and murder in 43 BCE. Later chapters treat character, habits, style, and family (Tullia, Tiro).
Forsyth writes a sympathetic, moralizing portrait: Cicero as the eloquent defender of the Republic, a family man, a model of Latin prose, sometimes vain and irresolute but not the coward or trimmer of harsher nineteenth-century attacks. He uses the letters as windows on private feeling as much as on politics.
ABOUT THIS COPY: This book is stunning in its original, contemporary binding. A third American edition, published by Charles Scribner ins 1871. Two volumes bound in one. Bound in half green leather leather with green leather corners and marbled paper in dark burgundy, green, off white and light gold colors. Hubbed spine bears five raised bands profusely ornamented in pristinely tooled gilt and two red labels stamped in gilt lettering. All edges marbled, matching the covers. Bound in silk ribbon page marker in dark green. A very handsome, beautifully fine binding. Frontispiece. Illustrated throughout with plates in black and white, there are eight plates within Volume I, and six plates in Volume II, all present. Indexed. Paginated separately, Volume I is 364 pp.; Volume II is 341 pp., with a total of 705 pages within this copy.
CONDITION: This book is in striking, near fine condition at over 150 years old, with only very minimal shelfware. Leaves are bright and barely toned with virtually no foxing. Unmarked. Illustrations are wonderful. An absolutely beautiful copy. Full refund if not satisfied. Near Fine.
8.25" tall x 5.25" wide x 1.25" thick.
Item #039372
Price: $200.00