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Lucian (Thomas Francklin trans.): : The Works of Lucian, from the Greek, by Thomas Francklin D.D. [...]

2 vols. 4to. [xii] including list of subscribers, xx, 480; [ii], 588. First edition of Francklin translation.Wormtrack to the gutter of 3I3-3M4 in vol II; occasional minor soiling. Contemporary half-calf, worn, headcaps and labels renwed. Bookplate of Captain Sir Edwyn Francis Stanhope R.N. (1793-1874).

Francklin (1721-84) was a member of Samuel Johnson’s circle. The good Doctor features in the list of subscribers and is the dedicatee of Francklin’s translation of Lucian’s panegyric to his tutor, the Cynic Demonax. In his life of Johnson, Boswell describes this as ‘a just compliment’ given the character of the two men. Lucian himself was a versatile and erudite writer who satirized most of the popular literary genres of the second century AD. His biting wit has survived the centuries, and his innovative prose narrative A True Story - which features a voyage to the moon and interplanetary warfare - is often described as the world's first science fiction novel.

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