Translated from the Greek by John Digby, Esq; with comments and reflections taken out of several authors. Also Isocrates his advice to Demonicus.
London, Printed for Sam. Briscoe, and Sold by J. Morphew near Stationers-Hall, and Ja. Woodward in Scalding-Alley, against Stocks-Market, 1712
An early edition in English of Epicurus' (341-270 BC) moral teachings, comprising his 'Wise Man' sayings, Letter to Menoeceus, and excerpts from his maxims, with a life of the author by Charles de Saint-Évremond, and Isocrates' Advice to Demonicus.
The major source for Epicurean doctrine, and Digby's translation, is Diogenes Laertius' Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, which was written roughly 600 years after the events it describes. Epicurus taught that philosophy's purpose is obtain ultimate happiness (eudaimonia) free from physical pain and mental distress. As such, Epicureanism was condemned as a form of hedonism in the middle ages, and Epicurus considered a patron of gluttony, drunkenness and vice. A renewed interest in his teachings emerged in the seventeenth century, where his atomist description of nature gained credence in Royal Society circles, and was soon considered the best model for explaining the physical world.
First Digby edition; 8vo (19.5 x 12cm); text in English, engraved frontispiece, ownership inscriptions in pen to title; contemporary speckled calf, panels ruled in gilt, spine in 6 raised compartments, sprinkled edges, early restoration, joints slightly rubbed, small chip to foot of spine, otherwise internally clean, very good; [22], xxxiii, [1], 224pp.
ESTC T111326.
The major source for Epicurean doctrine, and Digby's translation, is Diogenes Laertius' Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, which was written roughly 600 years after the events it describes. Epicurus taught that philosophy's purpose is obtain ultimate happiness (eudaimonia) free from physical pain and mental distress. As such, Epicureanism was condemned as a form of hedonism in the middle ages, and Epicurus considered a patron of gluttony, drunkenness and vice. A renewed interest in his teachings emerged in the seventeenth century, where his atomist description of nature gained credence in Royal Society circles, and was soon considered the best model for explaining the physical world.
First Digby edition; 8vo (19.5 x 12cm); text in English, engraved frontispiece, ownership inscriptions in pen to title; contemporary speckled calf, panels ruled in gilt, spine in 6 raised compartments, sprinkled edges, early restoration, joints slightly rubbed, small chip to foot of spine, otherwise internally clean, very good; [22], xxxiii, [1], 224pp.
ESTC T111326.
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