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AURELIUS, Marcus.

[Meditations.

[Meditations.

The Twelve Books of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus].

Stock Code 114710

London, Arthur L. Humphreys, The Royal Library Belles Lettres Series, 1913

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The thoughts of a Roman Emperor. A finely printed example of this important work of Stoic philosophy offering a unique glimpse into the mind of the last of Rome's Five Good Emperors.

Marcus Aurelius composed his Meditations between 170 and 180 AD as a private work, intended for his own moral guidance and self-improvement. The first definite mention of the text was made by Arethas of Caesarea in the 10th century, who sent a copy of the Emperors' '[writings] to himself' to Demetrius, Archbishop of Heracleia sometime before 907 AD. Although now lost, this edition is considered the likely source of the two extant manuscripts on which the present-day text is almost entirely based. The work survives to offer us a unique insight into the mind of a Roman emperor and 'philosopher king'.

Small 4to (16.5 x 13 cm); title in red and black, printed on thick paper; contemporary blue morocco for Hatchards of Piccadilly, spine lettered in gilt, top-edge gilt, others uncut, joints slightly cracked but holding, corners bumped, offsetting to endpapers, otherwise internally near-fine; [4], 282, [2]pp.

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