Dryden, John

FABLES, ANCIENT AND MODERN; Translated into Verse, from Homer, Ovid, Boccace, and Chaucer: with Original Poems. London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1734. Fourth edition. 12mo: [58], 345, [3] p. with an engraved frontispiece and several small vignettes. Period calf binding, with a red morocco spine label, decorative gilt stamping, and five raised bands. Period ownership inscription to the front pastedown. Minor splitting to the very top of the joints, with some general wear along the extremities.

The final work produced by English poet John Dryden (1631-1700), completed two months prior to his death. It contains a series of episodes from Homer, Ovid, and Boccaccio, as well as modernized adaptations from Geoffrey Chaucer interspersed with Dryden’s own poems.