Letters of Pliny the Younger With Observations on each Letter, Vol 1 & 2, 1751, 1st thus

The Letters of Pliny the Younger With Observations on each Letter; And an Essay on Pliny's Life, Addressed to Charles Lord Boyle By John Earl of Orrery. 1751, two volumes. 4to, 25x20 cm (9¾x8"). [iv], lxxxvii, 440, [16]; [iv], 509, [32] pp. Engraved allegorical title-page device by Michael Van der Gucht, twenty-three large head- & tailpieces engraved by Jacob Bonneau after designs by Samuel Wale, and numerous decorative initials. Period full calf, red leather spine labels. First Edition thus.

About this book

First Edition of this translation of the classic letters first issued between c.100 and c.109. John Boyle, fifth Earl of Cork, fifth Earl of Orrery, and second Baron Marston (1707-1762) had literary aspirations and became a friend of Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and Samuel Johnson. But they had no illusions about his intellectual gifts; and Boyle took some revenge on Swift's condescension in Remarks on the Life and Writings of Jonathan Swift (London, 1751). His translation and commentary on the wonderful letters of Pliny the Younger appeared five years after the first translation into English, done by William Melmoth, and were not an improvement. But the letters, which survey the whole range of Roman life and society (including the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the death of Pliny the elder, as well as problems with the upstart Christians), are fascinating; and Boyle's comments are complacently entertaining. The translator's very long introduction describes not only the life of Pliny but many aspects of Roman history, government, laws, and ways of life, including detailed accounts of the baths and gymnasia.

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61 – c. 113), better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and educate him.

Pliny the Younger wrote hundreds of letters, of which 247 survive, and which are of great historical value. Some are addressed to reigning emperors or to notables such as the historian Tacitus. Pliny served as an imperial magistrate under Trajan (reigned 98–117) and his letters to Trajan provide one of the few surviving records of the relationship between the imperial office and provincial governors. Two of the letters included are to Tacitus: The first letter describes the journey of his uncle Pliny the Elder during which he perished during the eruption of Vesuvius; the second one describes his own observations in a town across the bay (see photo 12). These letter are probably the very first detailed description of a volcanic eruption. The eruption column with its umbrella-shaped cloud that is also found at other volcanoes was named after him (Plinian eruption column).

Pliny rose through a series of civil and military offices, the cursus honorum. He was a friend of the historian Tacitus and might have employed the biographer Suetonius on his staff. Pliny also came into contact with other well-known men of the period, including the philosophers Artemidorus and Euphrates the Stoic, during his time in Syria. (Wikipedia)