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[ARISTOPHANES], The Frogs. [Translated by John Hookham Frere].
[London: W. Nichol, 1839]. First Edition of this translation by John Hookham Frere. 4to. 79 pp. Half green morocco and marbled boards, t.e.g. Fine. ¶ Inscribed on flyleaf: "Presented by the author, / The R. Hon. John Hookham Frere/ Valetta Malta 13 May 1845." "From before the start of his diplomatic career, Frere was a sparkling writer of humorous poetry, especially as a translator of Aristophanes. He printed his renderings of the plays on the government printing press in Malta in 1839, and they were published in England in 1840 (in 1829 he had given S. T. Coleridge, whom he helped financially, a handwritten copy of these translations). His Ode on Aethelstan's Victory was written while he was at Eton and was admired by Sir James Mackintosh and Scott. He also published on King Arthur and the round table (1817) and on Theognis (1842). Byron's Beppo (1818) was written in imitation of him and in 1819 he formed one of Byron's 'cursed puritanical committee', which decided against the publication of the first canto of Don Juan. "He was one of the founders of the Quarterly Review, though he wrote only one article for it (on Aristophanes in July 1820), signed 'W', for Whistlecraft, his nom de plume. He helped Robert Southey with his history of the Peninsular War (though he had pilloried him earlier in the Anti-Jacobin). Frere was a better man of letters than diplomatist, but it was to the latter calling that he gave the best of his life." - DNB
Offered for US$ 500.00 by: James Cummins Bookseller - Book number: 232239