A Sketch of the Life of Apollonius of Tyana or the First Ten Decades of Our Era.
New York: Frederic Tredwell, 1886. First Edition. Hardcover. Octavo. vi + 354pp. Mid-twentieth century rebind, in grey cloth with gilt titled leather spine label. A biography of Apollonius of Tyana (ca. 15 CE– ca. 100 CE),[1] the Greek Neopythagorean philosopher from the town of Tyana in the Roman province of Cappadocia who was sometimes associated with miraculous, magical or prophetic events. In death Apollonius was a controversial figure, up until the Enlightenment the Church tended to dismiss him as a magician and enemy who had sought to overthrow Christianity, more recently he has been likened to Christ, and indeed some Theosophists, such C. W. Leadbeater, saw him as an incarnation of the entity they call the Master Jesus. In his "Zanoni" Edward Bulwer-Lytton depicted him as a great master of the occult arts, whilst H. P. Blavatsky regarded him as "a great thaumaturgist." This biography, like all others, appears to draw heavily on the work of Philostratus. This edition was issued was issued with a fold-out map at the front, which is missing from this copy. Light shelf wear, spine ends and corners lightly bruised, owner's name on front pastedown. Pages toned - more so to first and last - and paper is starting to become brittle with a small split at the bottom of the title leaf. Lacking map, as noted, otherwise a tight, unmarked VG copy. Item #66255
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