Title: The Iliad
Author: Homer
Publisher: Joannem Ravesteinium, Amsterdam, 1650. Very, very rare.
Condition: Hardcover, vellum. Slightly grubby boards and cover. Wears its almost-400 years very well. Tightly bound, hinges strong, interior is bright and clean. Contains an inscription from 1680. About 900 pages.
Note: all text is in the original Greek with parallel Latin translation.
The Iliad is an epic poem, traditionally attributed to Homer.
Set in the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of Ilium by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege. Along with the Odyssey, also attributed to Homer, the Iliad is among the oldest extant works of Western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the eighth century BC.
