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===by Aeschylus===
 
===by Aeschylus===
 
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Aeschylus was an Athenian tragic poet born around 525BCE. <ref>[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192801463.001.0001/acref-9780192801463-e-52 " Aeschylus "] in ''Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World'', ed. by John Roberts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).</ref> He was fortunate being born into a noble family, as well as watching the fall of tyranny and growth of democracy in Athens. Furthermore, Aeschylus is the earliest great Greek tragic poet whose work still remains.   <ref>[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199548545.001.0001/acref-9780199548545-e-0069  "Ae'schylus”] in ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'', ed. by M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).</ref> His epitaph (c.456BCE) reveals the importance (either to him or his family) placed on his status as “a loyal and courageous citizen of a free Athens” by discussing only his skilled fighting in the battle of Marathon. There is no mention of his writing, despite the fact that he wrote an estimated 70-90 plays from 499BCE until his death. He won his first tragic production in 484BCE, followed by another twelve throughout his life.  Aeschylus favored tetralogies, which were three tragedies composing a trilogy followed by a satyr-play (a satire) on the same or similar topic. This favorite production structure does not impact the “great and evolving variety in structure and presentation” he showed in his tragedies.  Unfortunately, only seven of his many plays survive to this day: ''Persians'', ''Seven against Thebes'', ''Suppliant'', the ''Oresteia'' trilogy (''Agamemnon'', ''Libation-bearers'', ''Euminides'') and ''Prometheus Bound''. <ref>[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192801463.001.0001/acref-9780192801463-e-52 " Aeschylus "]</ref> All seven of these plays are contained in this work entitled “The Seven Extant Tragedies of Aeschylus.”<br/>
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{{BookPageInfoBox
<br/>Aeschylus was a “pioneer” in his field of historical drama and playwriting. <ref>William C. Kirk, Jr., “Aeschylus and Herodotus,” ''The Classical Journal'' 51, no. 2 (Nov. 1955): 83.</ref> Rather than focusing on the characters themselves, he focused on building up the plot to arrive at a key situation and event.  “Even important figures in a play…can be almost without distinctive character traits.” <ref>[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192801463.001.0001/acref-9780192801463-e-52 "Aeschylus"]</ref> Aeschylus stressed the power of situations and events as a contrast to the “moral lesson of the impermanence of human power and success.  <ref>Kirk, Jr., “Aeschylus and Herodotus,” 84.</ref>  In order to further create the powerful situational aspects which illuminate the morals Aeschylus touted, he created strong and distinctive choruses for each of his plays who used music and dance to establish the entire theme and mood of the play and to direct it to its inevitable conclusion.  <ref>[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192801463.001.0001/acref-9780192801463-e-52 "Aeschylus"]</ref><br/>
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|imagename=AeschylusHaiTouAischylouTrageodiai1746.jpg
<br/>This work was published by two well-known and regarded Scottish publishers.  Robert and Andrew Foulis (''ne'' Faulls) were brothers who opened their own publishing company and printing press in 18th century Glasgow.  <ref>David Murray, ''Robert & Andrew Foulis and the Glasgow Press with some account of The Glasgow Academy of the Fine Arts'' (Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons, Publishers to the University), 8.</ref> Robert was a barber before enrolling in University of Glasgow courses, while Andrew “received a more regular education…[as] a student of Humanity” who taught Greek, Latin and French for a time after he graduated.  <ref>Ibid 3.</ref>  The brothers began as booksellers and then transitioned to publishing and printing books, with Robert initiating each endeavor before later being joined by Andrew. <ref>Ibid 6-10.</ref>  In 1740-42, Robert had other printers print what he chose to publish, but began printing his own books in 1742 which continued until his and his brother’s deaths in 1775 and 1776, respectively, when Andrew’s son Andrew took over The Foulis Press.<ref>Philip Gaskell, ''A Bibliography of the Foulis Press'', 2nd ed. (Winchester, Hampshire, England: St Paul's Bibliographies, 1986), 15-17.</ref>  The Foulis Press primarily produced text books and other “works of learning…and of general literature,” as it was the printer to the University of Glasgow. <ref>Ibid 17-18.</ref>  The press is unique for the plethora of variant issues and editions of published books on special paper, in special font, or even on copper plates. <ref> Ibid 18-19.</ref>
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|link=https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991021776649703196
 +
|shorttitle=Hai tou Aischylou Trageodiai Seozomenai Hepta
 +
|commontitle=The Tragedies of Aeschylus
 +
|author=[[:Category:Aeschylus|Aeschylus]]
 +
|trans=Thomas Stanley
 +
|publoc=[[:Category:Glasgow|Glasguæ]]
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|publisher=In aedibus academicis excudebat R. Foulis academiae typographys
 +
|year=1746
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|lang=[[:Category:Greek|Greek]] and [[:Category:Latin|Latin]] parallel text
 +
|set=2 volumes in 1
 +
|desc= [[:Category:Quartos|4to]] (17 cm.)
 +
|shelf=H-2
 +
}}[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeschylus Aeschylus] was an Athenian poet born around 525 BCE. <ref>[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192801463.001.0001/acref-9780192801463-e-52 "Aeschylus"] in ''Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World'', ed. by John Roberts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).</ref> He was fortunate being born into a noble family, as well as watching the fall of tyranny and growth of democracy in Athens. Furthermore, Aeschylus is the earliest great Greek tragic poet whose work still remains.<ref>[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199548545.001.0001/acref-9780199548545-e-0069  "Ae'schylus”] in ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'', ed. by M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).</ref> His epitaph (c.456 BCE) reveals the importance (either to him or his family) of his status as “a loyal and courageous citizen of a free Athens” by discussing only his skilled fighting in the battle of Marathon. There is no mention of his writing, despite the fact that he wrote an estimated 70-90 plays from 499 BCE until his death. Aeschylus favored tetralogies, which were three tragedies comprising a trilogy followed by a satire on the same or similar topic. Unfortunately, only seven of his plays survive to this day: ''Persians'', ''Seven against Thebes'', ''Suppliant'', the ''Oresteia'' trilogy (''Agamemnon'', ''Libation-bearers'', ''Euminides'') and ''Prometheus Bound''.<ref>"Aeschylus" in ''Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World''.</ref> All seven are contained in ''Hai tou Aischylou Trageodiai Seozomenai Hepta'' (''The Seven Extant Tragedies of Aeschylus'').
  
==Bibliographic Information==
+
Aeschylus was a "pioneer" in his field of historical drama and playwriting.<ref>William C. Kirk, Jr., “Aeschylus and Herodotus,” ''The Classical Journal'' 51, no. 2 (Nov. 1955), 83.</ref> Rather than focusing on the characters themselves, he constructed the plot to arrive at a key situation and event. “Even important figures in a play…can be almost without distinctive character traits.”<ref>"Aeschylus" in ''Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World''.</ref> Aeschylus stressed the power of situations and events as a contrast to the “moral lesson of the impermanence of human power and success.<ref>Kirk, Jr., “Aeschylus and Herodotus,” 84.</ref> To further create the powerful situational aspects that illuminate the morals Aeschylus touted, he created strong and distinctive choruses for each of his plays, using music and dance to establish the theme and mood of the play and to direct it to its inevitable conclusion.<ref>"Aeschylus" in ''Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World''.</ref>
'''Author:''' Aeschylus
 
  
'''Title:''' ''Hai tou Aischylou Trageodiai Seozomenai Hepta = Aeschyli Tragoediae quae Extant septem''.
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==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
 +
Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as ''Aeschylus. Gr. Lat. 2.v. p. 4to. Foul.'' This was one of the books kept by [[Thomas Jefferson]]. Wythe also mentions reading Aeschylus with Jefferson's nephew, Peter Carr, in a [[Wythe to Thomas Jefferson, 13 December 1786|letter]] to Jefferson dated December 13, 1786, "Peter Carr attends the professors of natural and moral philosophy and mathematics, is learning the French and Spanish languages, and with me reads Aeschylus and Horace, one day, and Herodotus and Cicero’s orations." Jefferson owned many copies of Aeschylus and later sold one which matches the description of the Wythe copy to the Library of Congress in 1815, but it no longer exists to verify Wythe's prior ownership.<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'', (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 4:529 [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015033648125;view=1up;seq=549 (no.4524)].</ref> In her [[Dean Bibliography|bibliographic memo]],<ref>[[Dean Bibliography|Memorandum from Barbara C. Dean]], Colonial Williamsburg Found., to Mrs. Stiverson, Colonial Williamsburg Found. (June 16, 1975), 9 (on file at Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary).</ref> Barbara Dean merely lists "Aeschylus." Both the [https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433 Brown Bibliography]<ref> Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433</ref> and [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s. v. [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe "Member: George Wythe"], accessed February 26, 2014.</ref> on LibraryThing include the 1746 Foulis edition of ''Hai tou Aischylou Trageodiai Seozomenai Hepta''&mdash;the only Greek and Latin Foulis version of the tragedies of Aeschylus produced before the 1786 date of Wythe's letter. The Wolf Law Library purchased a copy of the same edition.
  
'''Publication Info:''' Glasguæ: In aedibus academicis excudebat R. Foulis academiae typographys, 1746.  
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==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
 +
Bound in contemporary acid stained calf. Spine features five raised bands with gilt decorative compartments and a gilt label. Fore edge speckled. Purchased from Rosenlund Rare Books & Manuscripts.
  
'''Edition:'''
+
Images of the library's copy of this book are [https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/albums/72157637635141963 available on Flickr.] View the record for this book in [https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991021776649703196 William & Mary's online catalog].
  
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
+
==See also==
 +
*[[George Wythe Room]]
 +
*[[Jefferson Inventory]]
 +
*[[Wythe's Library]]
  
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
+
==References==
Bound in contemporary acid stained calf with Greek and Latin parallel text. Purchased from Rosenlund Rare Books & Manuscripts.
 
===References===
 
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  
 +
[[Category:Aeschylus]]
 
[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
 
[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
 
[[Category:Greek Literature]]
 
[[Category:Greek Literature]]
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[[Category:Jefferson's Books]]
 
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]
 
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]
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[[Category:Glasgow]]
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[[Category:Greek]]
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[[Category:Latin]]
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[[Category:Quartos]]

Revision as of 13:31, 4 October 2021

by Aeschylus

The Tragedies of Aeschylus
AeschylusHaiTouAischylouTrageodiai1746.jpg

Title page from Hai tou Aischylou Trageodiai Seozomenai Hepta, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.

Author Aeschylus
Editor {{{editor}}}
Translator Thomas Stanley
Published Glasguæ: In aedibus academicis excudebat R. Foulis academiae typographys
Date 1746
Edition {{{edition}}}
Language Greek and Latin parallel text
Volumes 2 volumes in 1 volume set
Pages {{{pages}}}
Desc. 4to (17 cm.)
Location Shelf H-2
  [[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]

Aeschylus was an Athenian poet born around 525 BCE. [1] He was fortunate being born into a noble family, as well as watching the fall of tyranny and growth of democracy in Athens. Furthermore, Aeschylus is the earliest great Greek tragic poet whose work still remains.[2] His epitaph (c.456 BCE) reveals the importance (either to him or his family) of his status as “a loyal and courageous citizen of a free Athens” by discussing only his skilled fighting in the battle of Marathon. There is no mention of his writing, despite the fact that he wrote an estimated 70-90 plays from 499 BCE until his death. Aeschylus favored tetralogies, which were three tragedies comprising a trilogy followed by a satire on the same or similar topic. Unfortunately, only seven of his plays survive to this day: Persians, Seven against Thebes, Suppliant, the Oresteia trilogy (Agamemnon, Libation-bearers, Euminides) and Prometheus Bound.[3] All seven are contained in Hai tou Aischylou Trageodiai Seozomenai Hepta (The Seven Extant Tragedies of Aeschylus).

Aeschylus was a "pioneer" in his field of historical drama and playwriting.[4] Rather than focusing on the characters themselves, he constructed the plot to arrive at a key situation and event. “Even important figures in a play…can be almost without distinctive character traits.”[5] Aeschylus stressed the power of situations and events as a contrast to the “moral lesson of the impermanence of human power and success.[6] To further create the powerful situational aspects that illuminate the morals Aeschylus touted, he created strong and distinctive choruses for each of his plays, using music and dance to establish the theme and mood of the play and to direct it to its inevitable conclusion.[7]

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as Aeschylus. Gr. Lat. 2.v. p. 4to. Foul. This was one of the books kept by Thomas Jefferson. Wythe also mentions reading Aeschylus with Jefferson's nephew, Peter Carr, in a letter to Jefferson dated December 13, 1786, "Peter Carr attends the professors of natural and moral philosophy and mathematics, is learning the French and Spanish languages, and with me reads Aeschylus and Horace, one day, and Herodotus and Cicero’s orations." Jefferson owned many copies of Aeschylus and later sold one which matches the description of the Wythe copy to the Library of Congress in 1815, but it no longer exists to verify Wythe's prior ownership.[8] In her bibliographic memo,[9] Barbara Dean merely lists "Aeschylus." Both the Brown Bibliography[10] and George Wythe's Library[11] on LibraryThing include the 1746 Foulis edition of Hai tou Aischylou Trageodiai Seozomenai Hepta—the only Greek and Latin Foulis version of the tragedies of Aeschylus produced before the 1786 date of Wythe's letter. The Wolf Law Library purchased a copy of the same edition.

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in contemporary acid stained calf. Spine features five raised bands with gilt decorative compartments and a gilt label. Fore edge speckled. Purchased from Rosenlund Rare Books & Manuscripts.

Images of the library's copy of this book are available on Flickr. View the record for this book in William & Mary's online catalog.

See also

References

  1. "Aeschylus" in Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World, ed. by John Roberts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).
  2. "Ae'schylus” in The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, ed. by M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
  3. "Aeschylus" in Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World.
  4. William C. Kirk, Jr., “Aeschylus and Herodotus,” The Classical Journal 51, no. 2 (Nov. 1955), 83.
  5. "Aeschylus" in Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World.
  6. Kirk, Jr., “Aeschylus and Herodotus,” 84.
  7. "Aeschylus" in Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World.
  8. E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 4:529 (no.4524).
  9. Memorandum from Barbara C. Dean, Colonial Williamsburg Found., to Mrs. Stiverson, Colonial Williamsburg Found. (June 16, 1975), 9 (on file at Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary).
  10. Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433
  11. LibraryThing, s. v. "Member: George Wythe", accessed February 26, 2014.