[PLUTARCH'S PARALLEL LIVES] PLUTARCHI CHAERONENSIS VITAE PARALLELAE CUM SINGULIS A LIQUOT GRAECE ET LATINE 1723-29

[PLUTARCH; BRYAN, AUGUSTINE]. Plutarchi Chaeronensis Vitae Parallelae, cum singulis a Liquot. Gaece et Latine... recensuit Augustinus Bryanus. London: Jacob Tonson & John Watts, 1723-1729.

First edition thus. Complete in five volumes. Leather-bound. Hardcover. Quarto (29.5cm x 24cm). Pp. [68], 415, 105; 594; 590; 611; 468, [59] index. Greek and Latin text in single and double columns. Bound in contemporary full calf gilt. Marbled endpapers. Vol. I title-page in red and black. Engraved frontispiece to vol. I by G[erard] van der Gucht after Thornhill. Engraved portrait head-pieces also by van der Gucht. Numerous woodcut head- and tail-pieces. Decorative initials. Indexes. Condition: GOOD. Collated complete. Bindings secure with old repairs to the joints and spine ends, plus strengthening of the hinges. The joints starting slightly with some moderate wear to boards and edges. Interiors largely very well-preserved with some light toning and just a few spots. Armorial bookplate to front pastedowns. A handsome set.

Notes: A much admired edition of Plutarch's Parallel Lives, in Greek and Latin. Brunet called it "Belle edition qui represénte le texte de l'édition de Paris, 1624;" and Lowndes called it "An excellent edition." Augustine Bryan (d. 1726) was a classical scholar and Church of England clergyman educated at St Paul's School and Trinity College. The present work went to print just before his death only ten years after his graduation. It was completed by Moses du Soul. Both the Latin and Greek texts were printed primarily from the Paris edition of 1624, though with a few corrections and comments. Volume I is dated 1729, the volumes II-III-IV dated 1723 and volume V dated 1724. The lovely frontispiece is by Thornhill engraved by van der Gucht and 50 banners including 29 with portraits, engraved by van der Gucht. [Graesse V, 355. Lowndes IV, 1890. Brunet IV, 736. ESTC T106982. See ODNB, article/3787].