Lucretius Carus, Titus / [Epicurus] / Creech, Thomas.

T. Lucretius Carus, Of The Nature of Things, In Six Books, Translated into English Verse; By Tho[mas] Creech, A.M. late Fellow of Wadham College in Oxford. In Two Volumes. Explain’d and Illustrated with Notes and Animadversions ; Being a compleat System of the Epicurean Philosophy.

Two Volumes [complete set]. London, J.Matthews for G.Sawbridge, at theThree Golden Flower de Luces [The Three Fleur de Lys] in Little Britain, 1714 Octavo (13 cm wide x 20.4 cm high). Volume I: Frontispiece-Portrait of Lucretius, [This famous Frontispiece shows Lucretius pointing to the casus, the downward movement of the atoms] surrounded by Nature, Unicorn and Elephant,[This portrait by dutch engraver Michael Burghers], [36], 424 pages / Volume II: [3], pagination continues with pages 425 – 822 plus [5] pages of an “Alphabetical Catalogue of the Names of the Authors, as well Antient as Modern, cited in the Notes on Lucretius”, plus [28] pages of an “Alphabetical Index of the Principal Matters contain’d in the Text of, and Notes upon, Lucretius”, plus [1] page of an Errata Leaf. Hardcover / Original, tooled full leather with new spine-labels in teh style of the 18th century. Both Volumes in protective Mylar. Last 125 pages of Volume II with a minor, faded dampstain. Very minor signs of wormhole-damage in the pouter margins of a few pages only. Otherwise the interior in very good and bright condition. Bindings firm and only with very minor signs of fragility in the gutter. A stunning set of this rare work. From the library of Richard Meade (Ballymartle), with his Exlibris / Bookplate to pastedown.

Thomas Creech (1659 – found dead 19 July 1700) was an English translator of classical works, and headmaster of Sherborne School. Creech translated Lucretius into verse in 1682, for which he received a Fellowship at Oxford. He also produced English versions of Manilius, Horace, Theocritus, and other classics.

Creech’s 1682 translation of Lucretius vied in popularity with John Dryden’s Virgil and Alexander Pope’s Homer. A second edition appeared in the following year with extra commendatory verses in Latin and English, some of which bore the names of Nahum Tate, Thomas Otway, Aphra Behn, Richard Duke, and Edmund Waller; and when Dryden published his translations from Theocritus, Lucretius, and Horace, he made flattering comments on Creech’s work in the preface. Creech’s Lucretius was often reprinted, and was included in the edition of the British poets which was issued by Robert Anderson. An edition appeared in 1714 containing translations of verses previously omitted and numerous notes from another hand designed to set forth a complete system of Epicurean philosophy.

The success of his translation of Lucretius induced Creech to undertake an edition of the original work. It appeared in 1695 with the title ‘Titi Lucretii Cari de rerum natura libri sex, quibus interpretationem et notas addidit Thomas Creech,’ and was dedicated to his friend Christopher Codrington. This edition was also often republished, in particular at Glasgow in 1753. Creech’s agreement with Abel Swalle for the preparation of this volume is among the Ballard MSS. at the Bodleian Library. H. A. J. Munro in his edition of Lucretius wrote of Creech as borrowing annotations mainly from Lambinus, attributing the popularity of the work to their clarity and brevity.
(Source: Wikipedia)

• Keywords: Altphilologie · Catalogue No.10 – International Literature · Catalogue No.18 – Classical Literature · Classical · Classical Literature · Classical Literature – Rare · Epicurus · Sherborne school · Titus Lucretius Carus
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 32344AB

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