Buy this book on-line

Juvenal & Persius (William Gifford trans.): : The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis, and of Aulus Persius Flaccus, translated into English verse by William Gifford [...]

2 vols. 8vo. pp. xi, [i], lxxxii, 384; [ii], xlvii, [i], 224. Called “third edition, corrected and enlarged” but first thus. Later nineteenth-century green half-morocco over cloth.

Editions of Gifford’s translation of Juvenal appeared in 1802 and 1806, but this is the first appearance of his translation of Persius, which was not issued separately for four more years. “The insatiate itch of scribbling” (satire VII, v. 79) is a phrase which must have held particular meaning for Gifford (1756-1826) himself. He contrived to make a career for himself in the world of letters despite all obstacles of birth and means (farmhand, fisherman and shoemaker were all career-paths which he managed to escape). Early satirical works include the Baviad and Maeviad, based on the follies of literary circles he encountered while accompanying Lord Belgrave (son of his patron Earl Grosvenor) on two continental Grand Tours. He was editor of the short-lived Anti-Jacobin and the far more successful Quarterly Review.

Bibliophile Bookbase for antiquarian books, maps and prints.