The History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece
London: Richard Bentley, 1842. First edition. Hardcover. 3 vol. 8vo. [5], vi-xxx, [1], 2-424, [2]; [3], iv, [1], 2-433, [3]; [3], iv, [1], 2-475, [3] pp. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards, spines in six compartments with a maroon and a black morocco label on each spine, lettered in gold, all edges marbled, with marbled endpapers and pastedowns. Volume one illustrated by a fold-out map of Sparta. Contemporary bookplate on each front pastedown. Oxford DNB, S.V. Spilsbury, "St John, James Augustus [formerly James John; pseuds. Greville Brooke, Horace Gwynne]". James Augustus St. John was a prolific author, editor, and journalist, with sympathies for radical politics. He wrote numerous novels, biographies, and histories, including his own travel narratives of his trips to Egypt. This is his history of ancient Greece, drawn from original sources. St. John writes an exhaustive overview of Greek life in antiquity. He begins with a discussion of the original inhabitants of Greece and the Greek character, before moving on to different aspects of life in Attica versus the Doric states (like Sparta). St. John details Spartan infanticide and athletics, as well as the philosophy of education in Attica compared to that of other city-states. Cultural events like Spartan festivals, marriage ceremonies, funerals, and the Greek dramatic theatre are discussed, along with an overview of Greek literature and music. St. John also delves into ancient Greek religion, and the role unmarried women played in temples. He also gives a history of what life was like for married women in Greece, with a discussion of clothes, makeup, and the workings of the private home. The class system of ancient Greece is discussed, from nobility, to the middle-class artisans, to slaves, to Spartan serfs and the poor. St. John concludes his history with a discussion of Greek food, and the Mediterranean economy: imports, exports, sailing, construction, trading across islands, and imports and exports from northern Africa and southern Italy. An excellent nineteenth-century history of ancient Greece, in an attractive binding. Very Good. Item #00009333
A Very Good set with a small dampstain to the fore-margin of the first blank leaf of volume one and a bit of rubbing to the boards.
Price: $850.00