Horace : Quintus Horatius Flaccus “Crescam laude recens”. The Roman poet presented to modern readers. (with) Horace : Qunitus Horatius Flaccus “Crescam laude recens”. The letters of Horace presented to modern readers. (with) A book of satires

Woodstock, Vermont: Elm Tree Press, 1916. FIRST EDITIONS. I: Frontispiece plus 24 plates. Vellum-backed boards, portrait of Horace on front cover. No. 349 of 500 copies printed; II: With frontispiece plus 22 illustrations. Vellum-backed boards; III: With frontispiece and 16 full-page plates. Cloth-backed paper boards, spine label. Three separate volumes. All three books are signed by Charles Dana, who has also crossed out his brother John Dana’s name on the title page. All three with the book plate of the Library of the Medical Society of King’s County; the first title also with the bookplate of Horace himself. Three works which introduce Horace to modern readers. Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65 BC-8 BC) was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Emperor Augustus (aka Octavian). Following a stint in Brutus’ army he achieved the status of Roman poet laureate. His fame rests chiefly on his books of lyrical Odes and verse Epistles, including the treatise Ars poetica, which sets down rules for the composition of poetry. The Odes and Epistles, frequently on themes of love, friendship, and philosophy significantly influenced Western poetry from the Renaissance through the 19th century.

According to the rhetorician Quintilian “he can be lofty sometimes, yet he is also full of charm and grace, versatile in his figures, and felicitously daring in his choice of words.” Horace also crafted elegant hexameter verses (Satires and Epistles) and caustic iambic poetry (Epodes). The hexameters are amusing yet serious works, friendly in tone, leading the ancient satirist Persius to comment: “as his friend laughs, Horace slyly puts his finger on his every fault; once let in, he plays about the heartstrings.”

The Odes describe the poet’s personal experiences and familiarize the reader with his everyday world; they depict the customs of a sophisticated and refined Roman society that is as fully civilized as the great Hellenistic Greek cities. He creates an intermediate space between the real world and the world of his imagination, populated with fauns, nymphs, and other divinities.

Charles Loomis Dana (1852-1935) was a professor of psychology with a focus on mental disease at Cornell. He served as secretary to Spencer Baird, curator then Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution while earning his medical degree. Dana published over 250 articles; his textbook Nervous diseases for the use of students and practitioners of medicine (1892) went through ten editions.

John Cotton Dana (1856-1929) was an American library and museum director who sought to make these cultural institutions relevant to the daily lives of citizens. As a public librarian for forty years Dana promoted the benefits of reading, pioneered direct access to shelved materials, and innovated specialized library services of all types.

The Danas come from a Boston Brahmin background, arriving in Cambridge from England around 1630. Descendants include Richard Dana, author of Two years before the mast; Daniel Dana, president of Dartmouth; US senators and representatives, judges, military officers, football coaches, lawyers, clergymen and artists.