BIBLIO is the largest independent book marketplace in the world, with over 100 million books.

Skip to content

The Epistles of Horace (Bilingual Edition)
Stock photo: cover may vary

The Epistles of Horace (Bilingual Edition) Paperback - 2002

by Horace; David Ferry (Translator); Introduction by David Ferry

Add to wish list
This seller has earned a 4.06 of 5 Stars rating from internet customers.
4.06 / 5 (158 total reviews)

Reader reviews for The Epistles of Horace (Bilingual Edition)

Review summary

This seller has earned a 4.06 of 5 Stars rating from internet customers.
4.06 / 5 (158 total reviews)

Readers praised Horace’s verse letters as accessible, witty meditations on everyday life and virtue, often noting their strikingly modern, self-help-like relevance. Many highlighted his ethic of moderation and the blend of humility and performance, with occasional glimpses of genuine vulnerability. David Ferry’s translation earned strong approval for clarity and Roman flavor, though some cited sparse notes, a few clumsy lines, and a less engaging second book and Ars Poetica. Overall, the collection is recommended as a compact source of wisdom on living and writing.

Readers say this book is:
insightfulwittyaccessibletimelesswisequick readelegant translationphilosophicalrelevantoccasionally uneven

Write a review for this book

There are no reviews for this book yet. Be the first to write a review!

Your review will be anonymous unless you login or create an account first.

Overall rating
Remember: You’re rating the book as a work, not the seller or the condition of the specific copy you purchased!

Important Terms and Guidelines

  • Please focus on the book’s content and context. Also, add any personal comments as to how you enjoyed the book. Substantiate your likes and dislikes. You may make comparisons to other books.
  • Reviews must be at least 140 characters in length.
  • Please do not reveal critical plot elements.
  • This is not a help line. Contact customer support if you need help.
Your review must not include:
  • Obscenities, discriminatory language, or other insulting language not suitable for public domain
  • Advertisements, “spam” content, or references to other products, offers or websites.
  • Email addresses, URLs, phone numbers, physical addresses or other contact information.
  • Overly critical comments about other reviews or reviewers
  • Time-sensitive material (i.e. promotional tours, seminars, lectures, etc.)
  • Availability, price, or alternative ordering/shipping information

From the publisher

My aim is to take familiar things and make
Poetry of them, and do it in such a way
That it looks as if it was as easy as could be
For anybody to do it . . . the power of making
A perfectly wonderful thing out of nothing much.
--from "The Art of Poetry"

When David Ferry's translation of The Odes of Horace appeared in 1997, Bernard Knox, writing in The New York Review of Books, called it "a Horace for our times." Now Ferry has translated Horace's two books of Epistles, in which Horace perfected the conversational verse medium that gives his voice such dazzling immediacy, speaking in these letters with such directness, wit, and urgency to young writers, to friends, to his patron Maecenas, to Emperor Augustus himself. It is the voice of a free man, talking about how to get along in a Roman world full of temptations, opportunities, and contingencies, and how to do so with one's integrity intact. Horace's world, so unlike our own and yet so like it, comes to life in these poems. And there are also the poems -- the famous "Art of Poetry" and others -- about the tasks and responsibilities of the writer: truth to the demands of one's medium, fearless clear-sighted self-knowledge, and unillusioned, uncynical realism, joyfully recognizing the world for what it is.

First line

Prima dicte mihi, summa dicende Camena, spectatum satis et donatum iam rude quaeris, Maecenas, iterum antiquo me includere ludo?

Details

  • Title The Epistles of Horace (Bilingual Edition)
  • Author Horace; David Ferry (Translator); Introduction by David Ferry
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Bilingual
  • Pages 224
  • Volumes 1
  • Language LAT
  • Publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York
  • Publication date 2002-09-30
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bilingual, Bibliography, Illustrated
  • ISBN 9780374528522 / 0374528527
  • Weight 0.7 lbs (0.32 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.66 in (23.11 x 16.00 x 1.68 cm)
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: Ancient (To 499 A.D.)
  • Category Literature - Classics / Criticism
  • Library of Congress subjects Epistolary poetry, Latin, Rome - Politics and government - Poetry
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 00052746
  • Dewey Decimal Code 871.01

About the author

David Ferry, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry for his translation of Gilgamesh, is a poet and translator who has also won the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, given by the Academy of American Poets, and the Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry, given by the Library of Congress. In 2001, he received an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2002 he won the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award. Ferry is the Sophie Chantal Hart Professor of English Emeritus at Wellesley College.

Back to top↑

More Copies for Sale

The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition
Stock photo: cover may vary

The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition

by Horace; Ferry, David (trrans.)

  • Used
  • Very good
  • Paperback
Condition
Very good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780374528522 / 0374528527
Quantity available
1
Seller
Else Fine Booksellers
Item price
A$11.74
A$8.07 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002 Book. Very Good. Soft cover. 203 pages, notes, glossary. Rubbing to the edges, light creasing to the cover corners and some pages. Text clean..
Add to wish list
Item price
A$11.74
A$8.07 Delivery to USA
The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition
Stock photo: cover may vary

The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition

by Horace; Ferry, David [Translator]; Ferry, David [Introduction];

  • Used
  • Acceptable
  • Paperback
Condition
Acceptable
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780374528522 / 0374528527
Quantity available
1
Seller
Robert Harper Books LLC
Biblio Top Seller
Item price
A$13.13
A$7.32 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002-05-17. Paperback. ACCEPTABLE. Blue ink underlining throughout and inside front cover; lightest of shelf wear on cover
Add to wish list
Item price
A$13.13
A$7.32 Delivery to USA
The Epistles of Horace Bilingual Edition
Stock photo: cover may vary

The Epistles of Horace Bilingual Edition

by Horace

  • Used
  • Near Fine
  • Paperback
  • first
Condition
Near Fine
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780374528522 / 0374528527
Quantity available
1
Seller
funyettabooks
Biblio Top Seller
Item price
A$17.61
A$8.79 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002. Clean and tight. No creasing along the spine. Appears unread. Name on the inside of the front cover. 203 pages. Very little shelfwear. First Printing. Transaltion by David Ferry.. Paperback. Near Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Poetry.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$17.61
A$8.79 Delivery to USA
The Epistles Of Horace
Stock photo: cover may vary

The Epistles Of Horace

by Ferry, David,

  • Used
Condition
New
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780374528522 / 0374528527
Quantity available
5
Seller
GreatBookPrices
Item price
A$19.82
A$5.85 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
like new.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$19.82
A$5.85 Delivery to USA
The Epistles Of Horace
Stock photo: cover may vary

The Epistles Of Horace

by Ferry, David,

  • New
Condition
New
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780374528522 / 0374528527
Quantity available
5
Seller
GreatBookPrices
Item price
A$21.69
A$5.85 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
new.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$21.69
A$5.85 Delivery to USA
The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition
Stock photo: cover may vary

The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition

by Horace

  • New
Condition
New
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780374528522 / 0374528527
Quantity available
90
Seller
Ambis Enterprises LLC
Item price
A$21.70
A$5.85 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux. New. BRAND NEW, GIFT QUALITY! NOT OVERSTOCKS OR MARKED UP REMAINDERS! DIRECT FROM THE PUBLISHER!
Add to wish list
Item price
A$21.70
A$5.85 Delivery to USA
The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition
Stock photo: cover may vary

The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition

by Horace

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
Used
Edition
Bilingual edition
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780374528522 / 0374528527
Quantity available
1
Seller
Ergodebooks
Item price
A$27.63
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 30/09/2002. Bilingual edition. paperback. Used: Good. 6.00x0.52x9.00. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$27.63
Free Delivery to USA
The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition
Stock photo: cover may vary

The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition

by Horace

  • New
  • Paperback
Condition
New
Edition
Bilingual edition
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780374528522 / 0374528527
Quantity available
6
Seller
Ergodebooks
Item price
A$33.42
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002-09-30. Bilingual edition. paperback. New. 6.00x0.52x9.00. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$33.42
Free Delivery to USA
The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition
Stock photo: cover may vary

The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition

by Horace

  • Used
  • Good
  • Paperback
Condition
Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780374528522 / 0374528527
Quantity available
1
Seller
Bonita
Item price
A$55.03
Free Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
paperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.
Add to wish list
Item price
A$55.03
Free Delivery to USA
The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition
Stock photo: cover may vary

The Epistles of Horace: Bilingual Edition

by Horace; Ferry, David [Translator]; Ferry, David [Introduction];

  • New
  • Paperback
Condition
New
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780374528522 / 0374528527
Quantity available
1
Seller
GridFreed LLC
Item price
A$130.86
A$8.73 Delivery to USA

Show details

Description:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002-05-17. Paperback. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title!
Add to wish list
Item price
A$130.86
A$8.73 Delivery to USA
Show all copies
Back to top↑

Please wait a moment while we load the requested page.