[Rarebooks] FS: Very scarce 1st English translation (?) of Apollonius Rhodius. London: 1780. 2vols.

[Kenneth Karmiole]

Apollonius Rhodius. THE ARGONAUTIC EXPEDITION. Translated from the Greek of Apollonius Rhodius Into English Verse, with Critical Historical, and Explanatory Remains, and Prefatory Essays, with a Large Appendix... London: for Thomas Payne and son; and Robert Faulder. 1780. 8vo. 2 volumes in 1. (4),303,(1);(8),284,(4)pp. The final 2 leaves are ads, and the errata. With the half-titles. Bound in 19th century half dark green morocco and marbled boards, spine gilt. An excellent copy.    $500.00 (trade discount allowed)
Very scarce English translation of the ancient Greek poet. The translator is Edward Burnaby Greene. Note: In 1780 two separate English translations appeared. The other was translated by Francis Fawkes in one 8vo. volume of 392 pages. The Fawkes is credited as the first English translation in Harris' THE FIRST PRINTED TRANSLATIONS INTO ENGLISH OF THE GREAT FOREIGN CLASSICS. Another scholar, William Preston, in 1822 claimed both were published "precisely at the same time." R. C. Seaton in his 1912 edition of Apollonius Rhodius lists the Greene translation first.  

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