Plutarch's Moralia - 5 Volume Set - 1704
In our lives, outside of our natural tendencies, we are each influenced by someone or something. I believe this is what really makes us who we are; it is up to each of us to decide exactly how much of this influence we want to make public. This is true of many aspects of our lives whether those influences be small, large, conscious, unconscious, internal, or external.
One of my greatest influences has been reading any of the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Unfortunately for me, I found Emerson far too late in life. There are certain essays that Emerson penned that I am particularly fond of; there are others that I did not initially read because I did not expect to find anything within the confines of the subject particularly interesting. However, as I read Emerson, I found that each of his essays were very worthwhile. One of these latter essays was a biography on Plutarch. After reading it, I realized that I wanted to know much more about this man and how his words could have such a profound impact on the life and philosophy of Emerson.
Emerson, like all the rest of us, also had influences in his life. When I acquired the 1904 “Concord Edition” of the The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, there was an essay on Plutarch in volume X: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/emerson/4957107.0010.001/1:18?rgn=div1;view=fulltext The original text was actually the introduction in Volume I of the 1878 edition of Plutarch’s Moralia edited by William Goodwin.
After reading the essay, it was very obvious that Emerson was quite fond of Plutarch; probably more so than any of the other early philosophers he studied. I cannot speak for Emerson, but I can see how his interest in Plutarch’s philosophy and writing influenced his own. After reading Emerson’s biography on Plutarch, I knew that I had to read his material.
I found that Plutarch was, like Emerson, a very astute observer of his surroundings whether they were natural, social, or cultural. What is more is that Plutarch wrote in a format that was very much like he was sitting at the dinner table and having a conversation over a glass of wine. He uses many anecdotes and draws on many of the happenings of the day to describe his topics and dialogue. I found that Plutarch’s ideas and interpretation of his surroundings are well thought out and excellently compiled. As with Emerson, his philosophy is as relevant now as it was during his time.
The majority of my reading on Plutarch was from the 1898 Shilleto translation – actually, the 2019 reprint by Wentworth Press. The text is a tad small, but it is a direct copy with all footnotes and original page numbers indicated in the body of the reprinted text. When I have a particular interest in an author or text, I will acquire a common high-quality paperback to read; within it, I normally underline particularly interesting items and write my own thoughts in the margins.
While looking for a copy of Moralia, I ran across the subject 1704 five volume set printed by Thomas Braddyll. It turns out that it was for sale. After some negotiations, I was able to acquire the set and it now resides next to the 1904 Concord Edition of Emerson’s Works.
Research prior to the sale found this rather interesting extract of Braddyll from A Dictionary of the Printers and Booksellers Who Were at Work in England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1668 to 1725 by Henry R. Plomer, Bibliographical Society at the Oxford University Press, London, 1922:
“BRADDYLL (Thomas), printer in London, 1680-1704 (?) Braddyll is first
heard of in 1680, when he printed for Robert Clavell The Rights of Bishops to
judge in Capital Cases in Parliament cleared, and in the following year for the
same bookseller The Annals of King James and King Charles the First. [Haz*
11. 50, III. 87.] In 1680 Nathaniel Ponder, in the fourth edition of Pilgrim's
Progress, accused Braddyll of printing surreptitious and unauthorized editions
of the book and spoke of him as a " land pirate." At the same time he
appears to have subsequently employed Braddyll to print an edition for him, as
appears by a series of documents in a law suit which Ponder brought against
Braddyll in 1697. According to the story there told, he gave Braddyll an
order to print an edition of ten thousand copies at four shillings and sixpence
a ream, and he accused Braddyll of defrauding him, and further declared that
he was the author and printer of the Third Part, in which by transporting
a great part of the original work, especially the titles, he hindered the sale of the
plaintiff's copies. Braddyll in reply gave a complete answer to these charges,
and further stated that while Ponder was a prisoner for debt in the King's
Bench Prison he (Braddyll) had spent a sum of £14 on behalf of Ponder's son.
He denied having anything to do with the publication of the Third Part of
The Pilgrim's Progress. Dunton [p. 251] gives the following character of
Braddyll : " Mr. Braddyll is a first rate printer and has always been a very
active diligent man. He is religiously true to his word and faithful to the
booksellers that employ him He was once a good friend to Sir R. L'Estrange
when matters looked a little dark upon him." In 1704 Braddyll was the
printer of the fourth edition of Plutarch’s Morals for J. Taylor [T.C. III. 417]
after which nothing more is known of him.”
As with all the items in my collections, I try to get some sort of providence from the seller; more often than not, there is nothing to catalog about the history of the piece. Luckily, the seller was very willing and provided some very good information. He noted that these volumes were purchased by him personally in the 1970s while at University in England. While not much information on the books was available, he was kind enough to provide me with some excellent information about the small bookshop he acquired the books from. He noted that the five volume set was originally purchased from David’s Bookshop, a small antiquarian bookshop in Cambridge, England; his correspondence included, “David’s bookshop was started in the 1890s by Gustave David and continues to flourish today as a second hand and rare book shop in St. Edward’s Passage, a charming little spot, tucked in alongside the 13th century St. Edward’s Church (full name St. Edward King & Mrtyr Church of England). Google for photos of the church, the passageway, and the shop.” Prior to his purchase, there was not any other information on the journey of the books through the centuries.
Here are some interesting links to the bookshop that were also included:
This particular set is a collection of 78 essays and speeches on Roman and Greek life; many are produced by casual, but precise, observations of daily life. The first Latin editions came about in 1531 and 1572, with the first known English translation by P. Holland being published in 1603. The five volume set represented here saw 5 editions between 1684 and 1718 with this particular set being the 1704 (or 4th) edition. Numerous individuals were involved in the translation.
As stated before, the books were printed and bound by Thomas Braddyll, a publisher in London, England. The set itself is in excellent condition; this is amazing to me as the books are over three centuries old. The binding on all volumes is still relatively tight and all pages are intact and secure. The boards are Moroccan (Calf) leather and pattern-scored. The foot and fore edges are red speckled with the head edge showing the remnants of gilding. They are all planed; normally, the fore-edge is uncut (deckled) – the planing of the fore edge is indicative of a very high quality binding, thus adding to the cost of the book. An interesting aside is that the uncut (deckled) edges are from the process of hand-making the paper on a screen that is dipped in a solution with fibers that adhere to a screen; this screen has a removable frame called the “deckle.” Some of the fibers will get under the deckle and screen, drying that way when the sheet is take off the screen to dry – after which, the remnants (if not planed flat) are called the “deckled edge.” The splines have five single raised cords, the two top cords framing the red title block with impressed gold leaf lettering. The pages have very little foxing and there is no obvious water damage.
Each volume includes a dedicatory epistle to a different clergyman: Vol. 1. Archbishop of Canterbury by M. Morgan (includes the Preface); Vol. 2. Archbishop of York by George Tullie; Vol. 3. Bishop of London by Charles Barcroft; Vol. 4. Bishop of Ely by Robert Midgley; Vol. 5.Bishop of Worcester by Samuel White.
As an aside and among other historical happenings, 1704 was a leap year, saw the development of the first bayonet, Johann Sebastian Bach was 19, and was the first year that the Masque de la Mobile was celebrated in the capital of New France (Louisianna) in Mobile, Alabama – the celebration known as Mardi Gras.
Anyway, a very beautiful and complete set. It is interesting to realize that the set was created over 300 years ago in London, England and now resides in a living room in Conway, Arkansas. I often wonder about artifacts such as this and the different places and hands that touched them through the years. How wonderful if they could speak.
