Oeuvres Complettes de Démosthene et d'Eschine

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Oeuvres Complettes de Démosthene et d'Eschine, Traduites en François, avec des Remarques sur les Harangues & Plaidoyers de Ces Deux Orateurs, & des Notes Critiques & Grammaticales en Latin, sur le Texte Grec: Accompagnées D'un Discours Préliminaire sur L'éloquence & Autres Objets Intéressants; D'un Traité de la Jurisdiction & les Loix d'Athenes; D'un Précis Historique sur la Constitution de la Grece, sur le Gouvernement d'Athenes, & sur la Vie de Philippe; &C

by Demosthenes and Aeschines

Oeuvres Complettes de Démosthene et d'Eschine
DemosthenesOevresComplettes1777v1.jpg

Title page from Oeuvres Complettes de Démosthene et d'Eschine, volume one, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.

Author Demosthenes
Editor {{{editor}}}
Translator {{{trans}}}
Published Paris: Lacombe
Date 1777
Edition {{{edition}}}
Language French
Volumes 2 volume set
Pages {{{pages}}}
Desc. (20 cm.)
Location [[Shelf {{{shelf}}}]]
  [[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]

Demosthenes (384-322 BCE) was a prominent statesman and orator in Ancient Greece. Demosthenes was the son of a wealthy sword smith, but was orphaned at the age of seven.[1] His father left him with a substantial inheritance but his guardians mishandled it and left him with only a fraction of the initial estate.[2] At the age of twenty Demosthenes sued his guardians for misappropriating his estate and won.[3]

Demosthenes developed his skills as an orator by studying speeches given by previously great orators.[4] Demosthenes transferred his talents as an orator and writer into a successful professional speech-writing career.[5] During his time as a speech-writer, Demosthenes gradually developed an interest in politics and he eventually went on to devote most of his career to opposing Macedon’s expansion.[6] He initially spoke out against Philip II of Macedon and subsequently Alexander the Great.[7] Demosthenes played a leading role in his city’s uprising against Alexander. The revolt was met with harsh Macedonian actions and Demosthenes took his own life to prevent being arrested.[8]

Demosthenes’ oratory works were highly influential during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.[9] They continued to be influential over the next several centuries and are considered to be a source of inspiration for the authors of the Federalist Papers and for the major orators of the French Revolution.[10]

Aeschines (389-314 BC) was a Greek statesman, orator, and bitter political opponent of Demosthenes. He was raised in humble circumstances and worked as a tragic actor before becoming a member of the embassies to Philip II.[11] He eventually provoked Philip II to establish Macedonian control over central Greece.[12] Aeschines was a proponent of Macedonian expansion while Demosthenes fiercely opposed the expansion. The two orators collided when Aeschines brought suit against a certain Ctesiphon for illegally proposing the award of a crown to Demosthenes in recognition of his services to Athens.[13] Aeschines suffered a resounding defeat in the trial and subsequently left Athens for Rhodes where he taught rhetoric.[14]

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as Oeuvres de Demosthene & do Eschine par Auger. Fr. 5.v. 8vo. and kept by Thomas Jefferson. Later sold by Jefferson to the Library of Congress.[15] Jefferson's copy at the Library of Congress has no definitive Wythe markings. Nevertheless, both the Brown Bibliography[16] and George Wythe's Library[17] on LibraryThing list this copy as the one which once belonged to George Wythe.

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in quarter green calf. Spines have gilt bands and lettering. Two parts of volume two bound together.

View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.

External Links

Volume 1:Google Books
Volume 2:Google Books
Volume 3:Google Books

References

  1. ↑ Ian Worthington, Demosthenes: Statesman and Orator (London: Routledge, 2000), 162.
  2. ↑ Ibid, 186.
  3. ↑ Ibid.
  4. ↑ Ibid, 240.
  5. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "Demosthenes", accessed October 24, 2013.
  6. ↑ Ibid.
  7. ↑ Ibid.
  8. ↑ Ibid.
  9. ↑ Ibid.
  10. ↑ Konstantinos Tsatsos, "XV" in Demosthenes (Athens: Estia, 1975), 352.
  11. ↑ Encyclopædia Britannica Online, s. v. "Aeschines", accessed November 14, 2013.
  12. ↑ Ibid.
  13. ↑ Ibid.
  14. ↑ Ibid.
  15. ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 5:25 [no.4667].
  16. ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file.
  17. ↑ LibraryThing, s. v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on April 28, 2013, http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe
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