£750
FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, 12mo, pp. xxiv, 383, [1] + frontispiece and 3 other engraved plates (by Samuel Hill). Modern quarter calf, marbled boards, red label to spine. Lightly toned, some spotting, plates browned and offset onto facing pages. Ownership inscription of D.T. Smith dated 1846 to title-page, underneath crossed-out inscription of the Classical Institute Bangor.
The first American printing of one of the most popular titles of the eighteenth century, Sir Roger L'Estrange's translation of selections from Seneca's 'Epistolae Morales', first published in 1678. This Boston edition is in fact the first American printing of any substantial part of Seneca's works, and is illustrated by the Boston engraver Samuel Hill. It is a scarce book, with few copies having crossed the Atlantic: ESTC finds 11 American institutions holding copies, and none elsewhere.
