The Metamorphosis or Golden Ass of Apuleius.
[London] Birmingham: [Robert Triphook] W. J. Cosby, [1822] 1893. Second Edition. Hardcover, Octavo. xx + 214pp [2 blank], + [4]pp. Original parchment spine, with blue paper covered boards, printed spine label, title page printed in red and black, fore and lower edges uncut. Printed insert with suppressed passages affixed to rear pastedown. One of a limited reissue of 600 copies [this copy not numbered]. The best known work of the Roman author Lucius Apuleius (circa 123 - 180 CE). "The Golden Ass" is a bawdy, humorous tale of a young man whose passion for magic, and overzealous foolishness, result in his inadvertently being transformed into an ass. Taylor first published his translation in 1822. By nineteenth century standards the sexual content was quite challenging - it included passing mentions of "golden showers" and "threesomes" for example - so when Taylor published his translation the more explicit passages were omitted, and printed separately (presumably by a less prudish printer) in a four page insert which was then inserted at the rear of the volume. This 1893 reissue of the volume repeats the practice, with the pages of "Passages Suppressed" at the rear. The translator, Thomas Taylor (1758 - 1835), was a leading exponent of Neo-Platonic thought, and was largely responsible for it's rediscovery in English-speaking mystical circles, by his translations of Iamblichus, Proclus, Porphyry and other Neoplatonists and Pythagoreans. Taylor, a one time bank-clerk who devoted himself to the classics, was said to be such a devotee of Hellenic paganism that he and his wife spoke only to one another in classical Greek. It was Taylor's translations that introduced the Romantic poets to Platonism, and in the US his work was enthusiastically embraced by Emerson and a number of his followers, and in the UK was rediscovered by G. R. S. Mead, and others involved in other turn of the century occult and mystical movements. "The Golden Ass" was a favourite work of Aleister Crowley's, who included it in the list of recommended reading that he gave to his students in the A.:A.: Boards a bit darkened and well worn at corners and edges. Lacking most of spine, although a chipped and darkened spine label remains, front hinge cracked but holding (possibly reglued). Endpapers unevenly browned and lightly foxed, pages lightly browned. Pencil note on title-page. Bookshop sticker, one or two pencil marks - otherwise an unmarked, complete but Good only copy. Item #58497
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