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803J Boethius Anicius Manlius Severinus (480-525)

Anicius Manlius Serverinus Boetius, Of The Consolation Of Philosophy. In Five Books. Made English and Illustrated with Notes, By the Right Honourable Richard Lord Viscount Preston.

London: Printed by J.D. for Awnsham and John Churchill, at the Black Swan in Pater-noster-Row; and Francis Hildyard Bookseller in York, 1695                          Price : $1,900

This is the first edition translated by Richard Lord Viscount Preston,  who himself was imprisoned in the Tower of London, on the accusation of treason.  This edition also contains ‘The life of Boetius’, and ‘The testimonies of several writers concerning Boetius translated’.  One of the best early English translations of Boethius, this edition “is remarkable on account of the allusions with which the preface is filled. In figurative language the translator complained that his judges had been more lenient than the friends who had sneered at him for giving way under trials which they had never undergone.” “Boethius a celebrated Roman philosopher and statesman, born about 475 A.D. He was liberally educated, and well instructed in Greek philosophy. When about thirty-three, he was elected consul. His administration was beneficent and favorable to the oppressed. 

Boethius translated the works of Plato and other Greek writers into Latin, wrote commentaries on Aristotle, and acquired a great reputation as an author. He held several high offices under Theodoric the Goth, but, having been accused by some envious courtiers of conspiring against the government, he was unjustly condemned by that king and executed about 525 A.D. His principal work is ‘De Consolatione Philosophiae,’ which was written in prison, where he was confined just before his death. It is composed of alternate portions of verse and prose. ‘Few books,’ says Hallam, ‘are more striking from the circumstances of their production. Last of the classic writers, in style not impure, […] in elevation of sentiment equal to any of the philosophers, and mingling a Christian sanctity with their lessons, he speaks from his prison in the swanlike tones of dying eloquence. Quenched in his blood, the lamp he had trimmed with a skillful hand, gave no more light; the language of Tully and Virgil soon ceased to be spoken.’ (Introduction to the Literature of Europe) His great work was very popular in the middle ages, and was translated into various languages.” (Thomas’ Pronouncing Dictionary)

“Besides his logical writings, Boethius is known as author of the Consolation of Philosophy and of several theological treatises. From them no theory of knowledge emerges clearly, for the concern is not primarily there with knowing, although distinctions and differentiations relevant to it are frequent. In conjunction with the logical treatises, indeed, their doctrines give a sense of eclecticism. The Consolation of Philosophy is committed (by way of Proclus’ commentary on the Timaeus, it has been suggested) to a platonic doctrine of ideas and of reminiscence: the soul is of divine elements on which its knowledge depends; it is in need only of the quickening power of sense perception to arouse it to a knowledge of ideas at rest within it. The developments of that notion bring echoes, one after the other, of pythagoreanism, neoplatonism, stoicism, and augustinism. Yet, as if these came too near to a dereliction from Aristotelian principles, Boethius expounds the Trinity, in the work which shows most clearly the augustinian influence, by applying the ten categories to the persons and their relations. At the bottom of these diversified philosophic affiliations is the conviction, often explicit, that there was a single philosophy of the Greeks, to be grasped best in the reconciliation of Plato and Aristotle. That, however, was a lesson Boethius had learned from pagan Roman philosophers; even before the coming of christianity a change in the attitude toward philosophy had instituted a metaphysical conservatism. The distinctions by which the Greeks thought to have divided themselves into opposed schools are needless subtleties when abstract thought is to be invoked (as it is in the very title of four works of Seneca and one work of Boethius) for refuge, or salvation, or relief, or consolation.” (quoted from Selections from Medieval Philosophers I, by Richard McKeon, page 68-69)

Wing B-3433, CLC, CN, LC, MBP, MH, NP, Y.; Arber, E. Term catalogues, 1668-1709 A.D.,; II, 540; ESTC,; R003694

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796J Boethius , Anicius Manlius Severinus

Anicii Manlii Torquai Serverini  BOETHII de consolatione philosophiæ Libri V

Oxonii Typis Will Hall, Anno Dom. 1663                                    Price $1,100

Sextodecimo 9 x 7 cm. A⁶ B- O⁸, This tiny copy is very clean internally. There is small abrasion on the title, not affecting text.  The margins are of good size and the text is free of any staining or worming of any kind. Bound in full modern calf.

This rare copy is undoubtedly made for Oxford students to carry with them. The Consolation of philosophy is written as a dialogue in five books between Boethius and “Lady Philosophy,” an allegorical figure who appears to him in a vision while he is languishing in jail under sentence of death for treason.

The Consolation of Philosophy, a dialogue in five books between Boethius and “Lady Philosophy,” an allegorical figure who appears to him in a vision while he is languishing in jail under sentence of death for treason. Boethius had occupied a high station in society and government. He was born into a family with an excellent old Roman pedigree, and rose to a position of immense power and influence in the Ostrogothic kingdom under Theodoric. Although for a while he was conspicuously successful, he nevertheless eventually fell into disfavor, was charged with treasonable conspiracy having to do with the Emperor Justin in Constantinople (Boethius claims he was innocent), was arrested and finally executed.[14] In the Consolation, Boethius and Lady Philosophy discuss the problem of evil and the fickleness of fortune—a particularly pressing issue for Boethius, given the circumstances under which the work was written.”[Spade, Paul Vincent, “Medieval Philosophy”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2017 Edition)]

Wing, B3430; Madan, F. Oxford books, III, 2633; (ESTC), R35351