The Iliad of Homer.: The Odyssey of Homer.

(POPE, ALEXANDER). Homer. The Iliad of Homer. Translated by Alexander Pope. London: Printed by W. Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott between the Temple-Gates, 1715-20. First Edition. Together with The Odyssey of Homer. Translated by Alexander Pope. London: Printed for Bernard Lintott, 1725-26. First Edition. Illustrated. Folios. Eleven volumes. Bound in early 18th-century calf, gilt spines; with all eleven black morocco volume labels present; title labels absent. Illustrations include the full-page engraved frontispiece portrait of Homer by George Vertue; 2 leaves of engraved antiquities; double-page map of Homeric Greece and Phrygia; full-page engraving of the Shield of Achilles; and the very rare second frontispiece of Homer which begins The Odyssey. The second volume of The Iliad lacks the plan of the plain of Troy.

A very rare example of the folio Odyssey with thefrontispiece portrait. It is undoubtedly the folio issue, with gatherings of two leaves only and with the illustrations as called for in the folio issue; however, the dimensions of the volumes correspond to those of the quarto issue. It may be that this folio edition was printed on leaves in quarto, or it may be that the leaves have been trimmed in accordance with the preference of the original owner to approximate a large quarto size. Certainly, the bindings cannot date from much later than 1726. It is also possible that the original owner, having compiled the folio set, with the intention of having it bound in its present format, acquired separately a copy of the Odyssey frontispiece and had it included when the set was bound

With the exception of the plan of the plain of Troy, as noted above, the eleven volumes are complete in all respects. Edges and corners show only very minor wear; leather upon the hinges is in general lightly cracked, in several cases only very lightly, which is unusual for 18th century calf bindings. A beautiful set of this classic work.