Limited Editions Club the Satyricon of Petronius

Description: Scholars tend to agree that stylistically and in terms of factual detail The Satyricon belongs to the Neronian period, while Tacitus provides an account of the courtier Petronius as a hedonistic, witty, and amoral character, which would well suit our book's writer. While proof of authorship remains beyond conclusiveness, we can still delight in the work. Gaius Petronius Niger was born of a noble family in Rome, a class of idle pleasure seekers. He was both a politician and "arbiter elegantiae" at the court of Nero, hence his name is often referred to as Gaius Petronius Arbiter. He served ably as governor of the Asian province of Bythmia and as consul in Rome. After being accused of plotting to to kill the Emperor, and though innocent, Petronius committed suicide. For context, we must note that the Emperor Nero was a nut case, and people who displeased him had a nasty habit of disappearing or dying off. The Satyricon tells of the wanderings and escapades of a disreputable trio of adventurers, the narrator Encolpius, his friend Ascyltos, and the boy Giton. The surviving portions of our book most likely represent about one-tenth of the complete work. The loose narrative framework encloses a number of independent tales. The longest, and I think the best episode, "Banquet of Trimalchio," is the description of a dinner party given by Trimalchio, an immensely rich and vugar freedman (former slave), to a group of friends and hangers-on. The episode is noteworthy for its extraordinary realism and the acute observation of the figure of Trimalchio, who, with his vast wealth, his tasteless ostentatiousness, his affectation of culture, his superstition, and his maudlin lapses into natural vulgarity, is one of the great comic figure of literature. The aim of the work as a whole was evidently to entertain by portraying certain aspects of contemporary society, and when considered as such, the book is of immense value: superficial details of the speech, behavior, appearance, and surroundings of the characters are exactly observed and vividly communicated. Drawn by Antonio Sotomayor, the two-color illustrations consist of two double-spread and eight full-page illustations, beautifully and meticulously drawn in wash, and 40 part-page drawings in line. Our book was designed by the renowned Robert L. Dothard, who chose Bimbo type for the text and Hammer Uncal for the titles and running heads, which are printed in red. The text and illustrations where printed at the Press of A. Colish, Inc., in Mount Vernon, New York. The text paper is a cream-tone wove, specially made for us by the Curtis Paper Company of Newark, Delaware. The binding is of imported natural-grain goatskin vellum on the spine, stamped in genuine gold; the sides are covered with mold-made Fabriano paper, selected by Mr. Dothard and imported from Italy. This is number 822 of 1500 copies, and is signed by Antonio Sotomayor. The offer includes both the essential four page Limited Editions Club Monthly Letter and prepublication announcement. Condition. Condition. Condition. This offering is a good one, suitable for any serious LEC library. The work should also appeal to anyone with a love for classical Roman literature/history, and to those wanting to add some mischief to their lives. The price is accessible, also, for those seeking a gift for a deserving special friend. Thank you for reading this presentation, and good luck in your searches. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Price: 47.5 USD

Location: Wexford, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2025-02-12T04:53:30.000Z

Shipping Cost: 7.25 USD