The Histories

The Histories, by Herodotus. A luxurious, limited, signed and numbered edition, of the first great work of history, published by The Folio Society in 2020.

The first great work of history, exquisitely bound in full-grain leather. "Historians often like to think that they follow in Herodotus' footsteps; but this magnificent volume is not just an inspirational book - it is a thing of beauty too." (Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads;and Professor of Global History at Oxford University). Herodotus’ The Histories combines an exhilarating account of the defeat of the mighty Persian empire by a shaky alliance of Greek city-states with entertaining digressions, astonishing facts and scurrilous gossip. It earned Herodotus the epithet ‘the father of history’ from Cicero and 2,500 years after it was written, this foundation work of Western literature remains a cornerstone of every library.

Herodotus, The Histories. Translated by Robin Waterfield, introduced by Peter Frankopan and Carolyn Dewald, illustrated by Nick Hayes. 292 × 207 × 75 mm. Pp. [1–2], [i–vi] vii–lviii [lix–lxiv], [1–6] 7–753 [754–758]. Type: Haarlemmer. Printed in green-grey and black by Northend and bound by Smith Settle in full dark green leather blocked in gold and black with design by Hayes. Gilded top edge. Green endleaves printed with repeat design in gold. Dark green cloth slip case blocked in gold and black, lined with same printed paper as endleaves. The tipped-in edition statement, printed in gold, reads in part ‘limited to seven hundred and fifty numbered copies and twenty lettered copies hors de commerce’. It is signed by Waterfield, Hayes and Frankopan. A printed slip bearing notes on the care of the leather is loosely inserted. Ten illustrations by Hayes are in the text, with nine being striking double-page chapter openings. Double-page maps by Kevin Freeborn are on pages [lx–lxiii]. A timeline by Peter O’Neill is on pages liii–lviii. 

This particular edition is numbered 710.

Condition

Very good condition, with clean boards and immaculate pages that are bound tightly. As usual, there are small, hardly-perceivable spots of wear to extremities where the leather rubs against the slipcase and lightest wear to the top edge gilding. Housed in a near-fine slipcase that shows the lightest of shelf-wear.