Demosthenous, kai Aischinou, hoi Peri tes parapresbeias

Cambridge: Typis academicis , 1769. Ex-Library. Leather. Very Good. Two volumes, octavo (23 cm); [2], 405, [2], 478. Text in Greek and Latin, the Greek in fine characters. Bound in contemporary red crushed morocco, gilt borders, with library blindstamp on lower boards. Rebacked in contemporary style with red leather, gilt, probably in the early 20th century. Binding scuffed along extremities, and on lower board of volume 1. Libary bookplates, and Dewey classification code on spine. Discrete library stamp on page 95 of both volumes. Very minor occasional spots of foxing, but presents as generally quite clean, with good stock and pleasing letterpress bite.

Demosthenes (384-322 BCE) was the greatest of the Athenian orators, and was seen as a defender of democracy against the tyranny of Philip II of Macedon. The oration "On the False Embassy," printed here in the Cambridge University Press edition of 1769, is a public debate (against Philip's defender, Aeschines) over the sluggishness of Athenian representatives to pursue a favorable deal with the Macedonian, allowing Philip to strengthen his position in the meantime. The Greek text, edited by John Taylor, is very clear and pleasing on the page. The Latin translation by Hieronymous Wolf is conveyed in tiny type in the lower margin of the Greek. The text also includes the 'Hypotheses' of Libanius.