Cyropaedia, of historie van Cyrus, in 't Grieksch beschreeven door Xenophon. Nevens den lof van Agesilaus, door den zelven auteur. de XENOPHON

The Hague, (In 's Gravenhage), By Isaak van der Kloot, 1730. 8vo. 2 volumes: XIV,384; II,253,(1 blank); (54),78,(6) p., 1 folding chronological table. Vellum 16 cm (Ref: Geerebaert 88,1,2; OiN p. 389; 4 copies in NCC) (Details: 5 thongs laced through the joints. Title in red and black. Engraved printer's vignette (?) on the title: a kind of pedestal with a opened book and a palm on it, between them a radiant sun? Engraved headpiece at the beginning of the first and sixth book) (Condition: Vellum soiled. Manuscript title on the back) (Note: Anonymously published translation of the 'Cyropaedia' and the 'Agesilaus' by the Greek historian Xenophon, ca. 430 - 355. The 'Cyropaedia' is a quasi-philosophic biography of the Persian king Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian empire. It 'has the distinction of being the first historical novel and the first moral romance that has come down to us. It is further distinguished by being one of the dullest writings in any tongue'. (H.J. Rose, A handbook of Greek literature, London, 1965, p. 307) This may be true, nevertheless this political romance had a huge influence. The 'Cyropaedia' describes the education and career of Cyrus, the ideal ruler, and it became a model for many medieval authors who wanted to write a 'manual' for their ruler. The genre became known as 'Principum specula'. The best known example of such a 'mirror' for a ruler is 'Il Principe' of Macchiavelli. Xenophon wrote also a laudation of the Spartan king Agesilaus, whom he had learned to admire during his campaign in Asia Minor) (Provenance: written with an inexperienced hand on the front flyleaf: 'J.D en E.S. Simons') (Collation: *8 (minus leaf *8), A-2A8; pi1, A-2A8, 2B4) (Photographs on request)