De Rerum Natura by Lucretius, Signed Custom Harcourt Binding

Binding Details:  Signed custom binding by the Harcourt Bindery, Charlestown, Massachusetts bound in three-quarter morocco leather over cloth boards that has raised bands to the spine with gilt titling and ruling. The covers have gilt lines to the boards and corners, hand-sewn silk headbands, marbled endpapers, and gold gilted top page ends. The Harcourt Bindery label appears on the bottom of the last free endpaper.

Book Details:  Originally published in the first century B.C., the is the Heritage Press 1957 edition that features that features illustrations from the wood engravings of Paul Landacre. “One of the greatest and most influential poems in the Western tradition, De Rerum Natura is Lucretius's majestic elaboration of Greek Epicurean physics and psychology in an epic that unfolds over the course of six books. This sumptuous account of a secular cosmos argues that the soul is mortal, that pleasure is the object of life, and that humanity has free will, among other ideas. Lucretius's elegance as well as his philosophical profundity is crucial to the history of ancient thought.” – Stanford University Press

Measures approximately 9.25” x 5.75” with 318 pages as well as an introduction by Charles E. Bennett.

Condition Report:  The binding is in FINE condition. Internally, the book is very clean with no signs of previous ownership. Overall, this is a beautiful binding that houses one of the great classics.

A photograph of the binding appears in the photo section of the listing.