1858 CHAPMAN Homer Batrachomyomachia SANGORSKI SUTCLIFFE Morocco Binding For Sale

CHAPMAN, George, translator.
Homer’s Batrachomyomachia, Hymns and Epigrams; Hesiod’s Works and Days; Musaeus’ Hero and Leander; Juvenal’s Fifth Satire. With an Introduction and Notes by Richard Hooper.

London: John Russell Smith, 1858.

A particularly appealing copy of this uncommon collection of George Chapman’s shorter classical translations, bound in full burgundy morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, London, and signed by the firm on the turn-in.

Published in John Russell Smith’s important Library of Old Authors, this 1858 volume gathers Chapman’s translations of:

• Homer’s Batrachomyomachia, or Battle of the Frogs and Mice
• the Homeric Hymns
• the Homeric Epigrams
• Hesiod’s Works and Days
• Musaeus’ Hero and Leander
• Juvenal’s Fifth Satire

The bibliographic record gives xxviii, 256 pages, with frontispiece, in a small-octavo format approximately 17 cm tall.

George Chapman remains one of the central figures in the English reception of Homer. His vigorous Elizabethan translations of the Iliad and Odyssey later inspired Keats’s famous sonnet “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer.” This volume is especially interesting because it collects several of Chapman’s much less frequently encountered translations rather than the familiar major epics.

The chief distinction of this copy is its signed full-morocco binding by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, one of the most celebrated English binderies of the twentieth century.

The binding is restrained but extremely appropriate to the contents, using repeated Greek-key or meander tooling across the spine.

Features include:

Full burgundy morocco leather
Five raised spine bands
Direct gilt spine lettering
Greek-key gilt tooling
Double gilt rules to both covers
Small gilt corner ornaments
Gilt board edges
Decorative gilt dentelles
Peacock-pattern marbled endpapers
Top edge gilt
Silk ribbon marker
Signed “Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, London”

The spine is lettered:

HOMER’S
BATRACHOMYOMACHIA
CHAPMAN
1858

The classical meander decoration is especially well suited to a volume devoted to Greek and Roman literature.

Translator: George Chapman
Editor: Richard Hooper
Title: Homer’s Batrachomyomachia, Hymns and Epigrams; Hesiod’s Works and Days; Musaeus’ Hero and Leander; Juvenal’s Fifth Satire
Publisher: John Russell Smith
Place: London
Date: 1858
Series: Library of Old Authors
Edition: First edition of Hooper’s collected edition
Pagination: xxviii, 256 pages
Illustration: Frontispiece
Size: Approximately 17 cm tall
Binding: Signed full morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe
Edges: Top edge gilt

Good to Very Good overall, with considerable cosmetic wear to the leather but a sound and attractive binding.

The full morocco binding remains firm and structurally sound. The leather has undergone substantial fading and uneven coloration, with the spine faded from burgundy to brown and the covers showing areas of darkening, rubbing, scratches, pressure marks, and diminished surface finish.

There is additional rubbing at the raised bands, joints, spine ends, corners, and board edges.

Importantly, the gilt remains strong and well defined, particularly the spine lettering, Greek-key ornament, cover rules, and dentelles.

The marbled endpapers remain handsome, the top edge gilt is present, and the original silk ribbon marker survives.

Internally, the volume is substantially cleaner than the exterior condition might suggest, with only light age-toning and occasional minor marks. The text block remains sound and well preserved.

Please examine the photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description.

An appealing association of Chapman, Homer, Renaissance translation, Victorian literary scholarship, and one of the great English binderies.

The binding is not pristine enough to be considered a premier Sangorski & Sutcliffe specimen, but the signed full morocco, classical Greek-key decoration, uncommon Chapman text, and generally clean interior make this a highly collectible copy.