Description

4 Volumes COMPLETE in 2 books, in 3/4 LEATHER, in EXCELLENT CONDITION including 4 MAPS (1 in each volume) AND 6 ENGRAVED PLATES (Frontispiece in each volume plus 2 more plates in Vol 1). The book was published in the 1800s by Blackie & Son, 38, Queen Street, Glasgow. There are no dates provided in the books. The single version in Worldcat with the same publisher identified, Blackie and Son, describes the date as 18--?. Other versions in Worldcat with Blackie as part of the publisher name identify dates that are also uncertain in the 1820 - 1830 time frame, with one being 1860. Other versions listed for sale identifying Blackie as part of the publisher identification speculate dates in the mid 1800s. The full title is, The Whole Genuine Works of Flavius Josephus - The Learned and Authentic Jewish Historian and celebrated Warrior : Translated from the original Greek according to Havercamp's Accurate Edition. Containing: I. Twenty Books of the Jewish Antiquities, with the Life of Josephus, written by himself / II. Seven Books of the Jewish War / III. Two Books against Apion / IV. An Extract out of Josephus' exhortation to the Greeks, concerning Hades and the Resurrection of the Dead. Together with Large Notes, Proper Observations and an Index To Which are Added Three Dissertations concerning: I. The Testimonies of Josephus vindicated / II. God's command to Abraham to offer up Isaac, his Son, for a Sacrifice / III. Tacitus' Accounts of the Origin of the Jewish War, With a Complete Table of the Jewish Coins, Weights, and Measures. Authored by William Whiston. Volume I: Frontispiece - Portrait of Josephus, VI, 469 pages including the large fold-out-map of "The World Showing the Dispersion & Settlement of By The Descendants of Noah", a plate showing "Plan of the Temple of Jerusalem", a plate showing, "Breastplate of the High Priest", Volume II: Frontispiece - Ancient Censers, large fold-out map showing "Canaan Adapted to the Book of Genesis", 427 pages / Volume III: Frontispiece - Musical Instruments, large fold-out map of "Judah and Israel Illustrating The Books of Kings", 440 pages / Volume IV: Frontispiece - Roman Soldiers and Armour, large fold-out map of, "Journeyings of the Israelites, From Egypt to Canaan", including the Table of the Jewish Weights and Measures on pages 407 and 408, 460 pages. The books are in EXCELLENT CONDITION. The boards have been professionally refurbished and sealed. Leather spines and corners, with clear gilt titling in the spine, four raised bands. The spine shows "Vol I" and "Vol II", but as noted, all 4 volumes are contained in the two books, Vol 1 and 2 in the first book and Vol 3 and 4 in the second book. The title, "Whiston's Josephius", is in gilt in Vol II, is present in Vol I but the gilt is rubbed off. Boards with light corner and edge wear. Darkened page tops with marble gilt edges, marble endpapers. Previous owner names and an address label in a free front endpaper in each book (see listing photo for one example). There is also a previous owner name and the date "4/67" on the title page of Vol 1 (in the first book) and Vol 3 (in the second book), which I'm guessing is April 1867 (see one example in listing photo). Two pages with light pencil underlinings, one in a page slightly stained by the presence of a piece of paper - see listing photo. No other interior markings seen, CLEAN AND SOLIDLY BOUND PAGES, FAINT FOXING IN INITIAL PAGES ONLY. A 1966 Washington Post article was found folded at the endpaper of one of the volumes - it will be conveyed with the books in a separate sleeve. On Flavius Josephus and his works from Wikipedia: "Flavius Josephus (c. AD 37 c. 100; born Yosef Ben Matityahu) was a 1st-century Roman Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing "The Jewish War", he was born in Jerusalem then part of the Roman province of Judea to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed royal ancestry. He initially fought against the Roman Empire during the First Jewish Roman War as general of the Jewish forces in Galilee, until surrendering in AD 67 to the Roman army led by military commander Vespasian after the six-week siege of Yodfat. Josephus claimed the Jewish messianic prophecies that initiated the First Jewish Roman War made reference to Vespasian becoming Emperor of Rome. In response, Vespasian decided to keep Josephus as a slave and presumably interpreter. After Vespasian became Roman Emperor in AD 69, he granted Josephus his freedom, at which time Josephus assumed the Emperor's family name of Flavius. Flavius Josephus fully defected to the Roman side and was granted Roman citizenship. He became an advisor and friend of Vespasian's son Titus, serving as his translator when Titus led the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70. Since the siege proved ineffective at stopping the Jewish revolt, the city's pillaging and the looting and destruction of Herod's Temple (Second Temple) soon followed. Josephus recorded the Great Jewish Revolt (AD 66 70), including the siege of Masada. His most important works were The Jewish War (c. 75) and Antiquities of the Jews (c. 94). The Jewish War recounts the Jewish revolt against Roman occupation. Antiquities of the Jews recounts the history of the world from a Jewish perspective for an ostensibly Greek and Roman audience. These works provide valuable insight into first century Judaism and the background of Early Christianity. Josephus's works are the chief source next to the Bible for the history and antiquity of ancient Israel, and provide a significant and independent extra-Biblical account of such figures as Pontius Pilate, Herod the Great, John the Baptist, James the Just, and possibly Jesus of Nazareth." SL