The Republic of Plato.

One of 250 copies. A finely printed wide-margined example of Plato's Republic in English, the most famous of the Socratic dialogues.

Known originally as the Politeia, its title derives from the Greek for city-state (polis), meaning 'constitution' or 'community of citizens', and gave rise through Cicero (res publica) to the modern term republic. The text explores the nature of justice, explaining that the same qualities which order the hypothetical, ideal polis also govern the immortal soul. The resultant discussion contains one of the earliest examples of a written thought-experiment in Plato's allegory of the cave, which solidifies his theory of forms that it is the intelligible world perceived through reason which is the basis of all knowledge, rather than physical, sensory experience.

This translation with analysis and notes by John Llewelyn Davies and David James Vaughan, and printed in a limited edition of 250 copies by Macmillan for the Golden Treasury Series. It 'has truly been said that the germ of all ideas can be found in Plato' (PMM).

Limited edition, one of 250 copies; 8vo (20.5 x 13.5 cm); tipped-in engraved vignette to title, finely printed with wide margins; contemporary vellum, spine lettered in gilt, top-edge gilt, others uncut, spine slightly soiled, one or two light spots, very good; xxxii, 370pp.