Plato

The Dialogues of Plato [President James A. Garfield’s Copy]

Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1871.

James A. Garfield’s copy of the first edition of Benjamin Jowett’s landmark English translation of Plato.

Volumes I and II only, of four, from the personal library of James A. Garfield (1831–1881), twentieth President of the United States. Both volumes bear Garfield’s distinctive “Inter Folia Fructus / Library of James A. Garfield” bookplate, together with manuscript library/shelf notation.

An unusually resonant presidential association. Garfield was not merely a statesman who happened to own Plato: he was a formidable classical scholar and educator. Before entering national politics, he taught Greek and Latin and became president of the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute, later Hiram College. Classical literature remained an important part of his intellectual life. His ownership of Jowett’s Plato therefore represents a particularly appropriate conjunction of book and owner.

Published by the Clarendon Press in 1871, this was the first edition of Benjamin Jowett’s celebrated English translation of Plato’s dialogues. Jowett’s translation became one of the most influential English presentations of Plato and helped introduce generations of English-speaking readers to the philosopher.

These two volumes are preserved in their original publisher’s cloth. The bindings show substantial wear consistent with use and age, including significant loss at the head of the spine of Volume I with binding structure exposed, along with rubbing and other wear. The set is incomplete, comprising Volumes I and II of the four originally issued.

Despite these faults, a compelling association copy uniting one of the foundational texts of Western philosophy, the first edition of its most influential Victorian English translation, and the personal library of an American president whose own education and intellectual life were deeply rooted in the classics.

Provenance: James A. Garfield, by his library bookplate and manuscript library markings.

. Good. Item #1261

Price: $7,500.00