Titi Lucreti Cari De Rerum Natura Libri Sex.

first edition bound with the arms of Christ Church, Oxford

The first edition of this important commentary and translation of the Roman poet and Philosopher Lucretius' (d.55 BC) sole surviving work De Rerum Natura ('On the Nature of Things'). An excellent example bound in vellum with the arms of Christ Church, Oxford in gilt to the upper covers of each volume.

The translator and compiler H.A.J. Munro (1819-1885) was elected a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge in 1843, and later served as chair of Latin at the university in 1869.

'Munro early turned his attention to Lucretius's poem De rerum natura; between 1849 and 1851 he collated all the Lucretian manuscripts in the Vatican and Laurentian libraries, and examined those at Leiden. When the Journal of Sacred and Classical Philology began to appear in 1854, he contributed several papers, chiefly on Lucretius. In 1860 he edited a text with a critical introduction; and in 1864 he published a revision of his text, with introductions, a prose translation, and a full commentary. The book was considered the most valuable contribution to Latin scholarship by a British scholar that century' (ODNB).

First edition; 2 vols; 8vo (22.5 x 14.5 cm); text in English and Latin, occasional light spotting; contemporary vellum, covers tooled in gilt with the arms of Christ Church, Oxford, spine tooled in gilt, contrasting red and blue morocco lettering-pieces, edges stained red, light wear, very good or better.