The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter
by Arbiter, Gaius Petronius
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Near Fine in Good dust jacket
- Seller
-
Williamsville, New York, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
New York: Privately Printed. Near Fine in Good dust jacket. 1930. Limited/Numbered Edition. Hardcover. Slight abrasion to head edge of front pastedown. Slightest rubbing to spine ends. Ink stamp to rear endpaper. Lacks the publisher's slipcase. Dust jacket chipped at head and tail edges, split along spine, but together in a paper-backed mylar jacket.; This is Gaius Petronius Arbiter's classic satire of the extremes of amoral 'bro culture' in ancient Rome. Copy 625 of 1200 of this edition, "privately printed" during a time of US censorship. The origins of the text are vague, but are believed to be the work of Gaius Petronius Arbiter, Roman Emperor Nero's advisor on matters of taste, fashion, luxury, and extravagance. This book is his satirical retelling of the self-indulgent extremes of immoral living. The manuscript was fragmented, not contiguous, and there are only assumptions about what fragments may be missing and how they linked the known fragments. This edition's 16 chapters are 16 of the book's fragments in what scholars believe to be in logical order and the work as a whole is often considered to be the first novel, though not in the modern form. The title page states, "Translation ascribed to Oscar Wilde," but that is likely nonsense. This edition may be a reprint of the Charles Carrington edition that attributed its translation to Wilde, but there appears to be no scholarship that supports that assertion. "Privately Printed," with no publisher stated, to obfuscate the edition's origin during a time of US censorship and efforts to force a morality on the public. So... why should you read this book? The protagonists were men who were not monied, frequently destitute due to their own actions, but had enough societal privilege to evade most consequences of careening through life as morality-free, self-centered sociopaths. The book's narrative approach documents the protagonists' personal excesses of every type: gluttony, violence, staggering inebriation, faithless relationships that shifted with the wind, sex with anything on two legs, political posturing, and manipulation of everyone they encountered. It was 'all in a day's work' for the 0.1% uppermost class of the ancient Roman world. With that kind of story line, it's not surprising that the book was adapted into a 1969 film by Federico Fellini. Bound in slick, black cloth over boards with gilt titling to front and spine. Printed on light buff mould-made paper with the head of the text block roughly cut and the fore and tail edges uncut. The dust jacket is chipped, split, and Good condition, but together and presentable in a paper-backed mylar jacket. This is an attractive, clean, Near Fine copy that's ready to astonish and amuse you, if I may take the liberty of personifying the book.; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; [1],2-236 pages .
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- 20 Ants Fine Books, IOBA (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 102
- Title
- The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter
- Author
- Arbiter, Gaius Petronius
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine in Good dust jacket
- Edition
- Limited/Numbered Edition
- Publisher
- Privately Printed
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1930
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- Erotica, Ancient World, First Person Account
- Bookseller catalogs
- Classic Literature;
Terms of Sale
20 Ants Fine Books, IOBA
As a member of Independent Online Booksellers Association, we adhere to its Code of Ethics and strive for the best outcomes for our customers. We're focused on your satisfaction and guarantee all items to be as described. We accept returns, within 10 days, for any reason. Please contact us first at books@20ants.com and we will help you arrange the return.
All items subject to prior sale. We prefer to conduct all transactions through Biblio's system. Biblio may charge sales tax that is applicable to your state or locale. Shipping by USPS is preferred and shipping by FedEx and UPS is available. Heavier items may incur an additional shipping charge. Items valued at $100 and above are shipped Signature Required.
International shipping is available to most countries and the buyer is responsible for all duties, tariffs, taxes, or fees charged by the receiving country or shipping carrier. When practical, we ship USPS to international customers so that they do not incur the brokerage fees of other carriers. We state the correct type and value of the item(s) for customs purposes.
We will refund the item's price and shipping fees both ways if an item was misdescribed . For other returns we will refund the item's price, only. Any returned item must be the specific item originally shipped to you, in the same condition as originally shipped, insured for the full original value, and securely packed to ensure damage-free delivery to us.
All items subject to prior sale. We prefer to conduct all transactions through Biblio's system. Biblio may charge sales tax that is applicable to your state or locale. Shipping by USPS is preferred and shipping by FedEx and UPS is available. Heavier items may incur an additional shipping charge. Items valued at $100 and above are shipped Signature Required.
International shipping is available to most countries and the buyer is responsible for all duties, tariffs, taxes, or fees charged by the receiving country or shipping carrier. When practical, we ship USPS to international customers so that they do not incur the brokerage fees of other carriers. We state the correct type and value of the item(s) for customs purposes.
We will refund the item's price and shipping fees both ways if an item was misdescribed . For other returns we will refund the item's price, only. Any returned item must be the specific item originally shipped to you, in the same condition as originally shipped, insured for the full original value, and securely packed to ensure damage-free delivery to us.
About the Seller
20 Ants Fine Books, IOBA
Biblio member since 2020
Williamsville, New York
About 20 Ants Fine Books, IOBA
20 Ants Fine Books offers fine press, small press, limited editions, literature, and eclectic categories that strike our fancy. Serving readers, collectors, and institutions since 1998.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Rubbing
- Abrasion or wear to the surface. Usually used in reference to a book's boards or dust-jacket.
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Tail
- The heel of the spine.
- Text Block
- Most simply the inside pages of a book. More precisely, the block of paper formed by the cut and stacked pages of a book....
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Reprint
- Any printing of a book which follows the original edition. By definition, a reprint is not a first edition.
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...