ATHENA RARE BOOKS CATALOG 11 PHILOSOPHY A Chronological Presentation of “The History of Ideas” Athena Rare Books specializes in the history of ideas and, given our long devotion to that subject, we find it almost impossible to think of these eminent philosophers other than in the context in which they lived and the ways in which they related to one another in their own time. The philosophers have therefore been arranged in this catalog by the years of their birth (excepting only James & Nietzsche – James just seems so post-Nietzschean to me!) in the hopes that a reading of this catalog will afford you with the opportunity to experience at least a glimpse of the broad sweep that the history of ideas has had in the West over the past 2,500 years. For those who prefer a more traditional arrangement, we offer the alphabetical listings below: ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF PHILOSOPHERS Abercrombie 36 Kant 23 Aristotle 3 Kierkegaard 42 Cicero 4 Heidegger 55 Bacon 5 Husserl 54 Beauvoir 59 Hyppolite 58 Bentham 29 Lacman 12 Bolzano 37 Levinas ` 58 Brentano 44 Locke 13 Burke 27 Meiners 28 Camus 59 Merleau-Ponty 59 Carnap 57 Mettrie 18 Condillac 22 Mill (James) 33 Cudworth 10 Mill (John S.) 41 Deleuze 61 Montesquieu 14 Descartes 7 Nietzsche 46 Dewey 54 Peirce 44 Epictetus 4 Plato 1 Feuerbach 41 Rawls 60 Fichte 31 Reinhold 30 Foucault 62 Ritter 40 Fries 34 Rousseau 19 Hegel 33 R o y c e 53 Helvetius 21 Schelling 35 Herbart 36 Schlosser 28 Herder 29 Schopenhauer 39 Hobbes 6 Shaftesbury 15 Holbach 23 Spinoza 11 Hume 18 Stewart 30 Hutcheson 16 Stirner 42 Irigaray 62 Upham 40 James 52 Voltaire 17 Johnson 38 Wittgenstein 55 Kames 17 Wollstonecraft 31 Plato [428-347 BCE] The STEPHANUS Edition The Universal Reference for All of Plato’s Works Three Volumes Elegantly Bound in Full Vellum Platonis opera quae extant omnia. (The Complete Works of Plato) [Title also in Greek], Henr. Stephani, [Geneva], 1578. Volume 1: TP + [i]-[xvi] = Studioso Lectori + [xvii]-[xxiii] = Platone Epigrammata + [xxiv]-[xxv] = Catalogus Dialogorum + half title (with first page of text – unnumbered – on the verso) + 1-402 + 401-402 (duplicate leaf) + 403-404 + 403-404 (duplicate leaf) + 405-542 + 1 blank leaf; Volume 2: Half-title + [i]-[v] = Dedication + [vi] = Two Poems + blank leaf [lettered AA.1.] + 3-992 [Note: pp 703/703 are mis-numbered 672-673 and pp. 954/955 are mis-numbered 949-950]; V o l u m e 3 : Half-title + [i]-[v] = Dedication to the Republic of Bern + [vi] = Poem + [vii] = Contents Page + 3-416 + 1-139; Folio (15.25" x 9.75"). First Complete Greek/Latin Edition. $ 22,500 The famous Stephanus edition which has served as the universal reference system for all other editions of Plato's writing since its publication. (In every translation of Plato there are small numbers in the margin which refer to the pagination in this edition affording scholars the opportunity to cross-reference each other's work in any language - they are called the "Stephanus numbers".) "A great Renaissance author and scholar as well as a member of one of Europe's most illustrious families of printers, Henri Estienne II himself edited his grand Plato, for which he commissioned a new Latin translation by Jean de Serres. Together with his monumental 1572 Thesaurus graecae linguae, the lavish Plato was responsible, according to Schreiber, for securing both Estienne's scholarly reputation and his financial ruin." (Garden Ltd., #40) Large, dated, woodcut device of St. Paul and the olive tree on TP of the first volume, numerous woodcut head- and tailpieces and ornamental initials, text in two columns, in Greek and Latin. All three volumes bound in contemporary boards with professional repairs to joints. Spines with four raised bands along with title pieces – gilt on red for author/title and gilt on green for volume. A lovely set which is more commonly seen bound as two volumes (vols. 1 & 3 and vol. 2 separate). The Publisher’s Own Specially-Bound, Large-Paper Copy of Spen’s Translation of Plato’s Monumental The Republic [SPENS] The Republic of Plato, in Ten Books. Printed by Robert and Andrew Foulis, Printers to the University, Glasgow, 1763. TP + 2 leaves [4 pp.] = Dedication + [ii]-[iv] = Speakers in the Republic + [v]-xl = Preface +[1]-430 + [431]-[432] = Publisher’s ads + 1 blank leaf, Quarto. First Edition this Translation. $ 27,000 The first English translation of Plato’s Republic; done by Dr. Harry Spens and published by Foulis of Scotland. This is “a ver y faithful translation… containing not only a general epitome of the Republic of Plato, but an accurate delineation of the characters, manners, and philosophy of the ancient Greeks.” (Lowndes, 1878) Although little is known of Spens, according to Richard Garnett’s commentary in 1906, his translation “should not be lightly esteemed [for] it is clearly the work of a scholar and a man of considerable literary ability.” The rare, large paper copy of the first edition of this first English translation of Plato’s Republic that was the bound expressly for the publisher, Foulis. According to notes on the inside of the front cover, this magnificent binding of red goatskin was done expressly for the publisher. (See Library, Volume VII, No. 2, June 1952 for further details) In 1776, this copy was given to a friend by Sir Richard Worsley, Baronet on Isle of Wight of which he was Governor. He had been comptroller of the King’s household and was sworn of the privy council in 1780. In addition to this, his previous duties were those of British Resident at Venice and a member of Parliament. The Republic is a Socratic dialogue by Plato, written in approximately 380 BC. It is one of the most influential works of philosophy and political theory, and among Plato`s best known works. In Plato`s fictional dialogues, the characters of Socrates as well as various Athenians and foreigners discuss the meaning of justice and examine whether the just man is happier than the unjust man by imagining a society ruled by philosopher-kings and the guardians. The dialogue also discusses Plato`s Theory of Forms, the place of poetry, and the immortality of the soul. 1 A magnificent contemporary binding in full red goatskin with elaborate decorations on both the front and back covers. The spine with five raised bands, gilt decorations and a black field for the title. Amazingly well preserved, a truly singular and unique binding of this important early English translation of Plato. Preserved in a matching red slip case. Third & Corrected Edition of Dacier’s French Translation into English The Works of Plato Abridg’d with an Account of His Life. Philosophy, Morals, and Politicks. Together with a Translation of his choicest Dialogues. Printed for J. Rivington, et al. London, 1772. Volume 1: TP + [i]-[ii] = A Table of the Dialogues + 1-336; Volume 2: TP + 3-344, 12 mo. Third Edition of the Dacier Translation. $ 850 A lovely set containing an early English translations of many of Plato’s dialogues – following the famous French translation by Mme. Dacier. Recently rebacked in full leather with gilt lettering on the spine. Original boards worn and a bit scarred, but exhibiting character all the while. With the bookplate of “I. Drewitt” to the inside front board of each volume. Inside front board of Volume II with two lines of handwritten Greek and, on the facing front free endpaper, ten lines of English serving as an Index. Overall, a very pretty set. The First American Printing of Any Work by Plato Phædon: or, A Dialogue on the Immortality of the Soul. New York: W. Gowan, 1833. TP + 1 leaf = Dedication page with advertisement on verso + [1]-2 = publisher's advertisements + [5]-209, 12mo. First American Edition of any work by Plato. $ 550 The first American printing of any work by Plato, noted on the TP: "Translated from the Original Greek by Madam Dacier with Notes and Emendations to which is prefixed the Life of the Author by Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambray, First American, from the Rare London Edition". André Dacier (1651-1722) and his wife Anne Lefevre (1654-1720) were learned Hellenist and Latinist scholars who took the side of the Ancients in the quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns which was raging at the time. They did much of their work together. Dacier also translated Horace, Aristotle, Sophocles, Epictetus, Hippocrates and Plutarch. He was an editor of the Delphin series of classics and was, for a time, in charge of the library at the Louvre. Original boards (light red muslin over blue paper) and paper label (a bit worn) to the spine – noting the original price of $1. With a former owner’s name on the inside cover and another (dated 1837) to the front fly leaf. The text block is split at the title page, but holding at the bottom. Overall, a lovely copy. The 19th Century’s Critical Edition of Plato – Beautifully Bound in Full Vellum Platonis Opera Quae Feruntur Omnia (The Complete Works of Plato. Impensis Meyeri & Zelleri, Turici [Turin], 1839. 1 blank leaf + half-title + TP + Dedication page + [VII]-VIII + [1]-[1075] + 1 blank leaf. [iii]-iv = Contents + [5]-149 + 1 blank leaf. Quarto. Complete Critical Edition of Plato in Greek. $ 600 A complete edition of Plato in Greek edited by three famous 19th century scholars – Johan Georg Baiter, Johan Caspar von Orelli and August Wilhelm Winckelmann. Orelli was the senior member of the team that produced this work – his previous reputation resting on his complete edition of Cicero (published 1826-1838).