athenian oracle being entire collection di dunton john (2 risultati)

The Third Edition Corrected. Volume I (of three Volumes). 12.7 cm x 20 cm. 568 pages, inlcuding two leaves of advertising for "Books printed for Andrew Bell". Hardcover / Original 18th century full leather with ornament to boards and recently rebacked spine. Very good condition with minor signs of external wear. Moderate foxing to front and rear pastedown and endpapers. The Athenian Oracle a sort of 17th-century version of Quora had its roots in The Athenian Mercury, a magazine published twice a week in London between 1690 and 1697. Its Editor-in-Chief, John Dunton had come upon the idea of having an advice-column in the magazine, giving the readers a chance to send in their questions which would then be answered by a group of experts. This group, called 'The Athenian Society', consisted of a Dr. Norris, the Mathematician Richard Sault, the clergyman and author Samuel Wesley, as well as John Dunton himself. The questions received by the society covered everything from natural sciences and philosophy to literature and religion, and in 1703, they were collected and published as The Athenian Oracle. Questions range from "why horses neigh" or "how dew is produced", to asking "if there is a cure for stammering", as well as philosophical questions "on what happiness is" or "what death is". Some of the questions were written by women, resulting in a spin-off called "The Ladies' Mercury" which was published for four weeks in 1693 and was the first periodical specifically aimed for women. (Source: Public Domain Review. Org) Sprache: english.

Hardcover. Condizione: Very Good. 4 volumes comprising volumes one to three plus the Supplement, bound in contemporary panelled calf, sometime but not recently artfully rebacked, spines gilt with raised bnds and red labels, date at good of spine, occasional minor brownig or magrinal stains to text, but overall very good throughout, MIXED EDITION SET, comprising the second ediiton of volumes one and two [1703 and 1704 respectively, the first editions of volume three [1704] and Supplement [1710]. The latter is complete with the fine engraved frontispiece ' An Emblem of the Athenian Society 1692' and the text includes a history of the Society. The 'Oracle' was one of the most extensive and popular of Dunton's publishing undertakings, originally a journal called 'The Athenian Mercury' which solicited questions from its readership upon every subject under the sun, these answered by a panel of 'experts' headed by Dunton himself. The whole is vast and diverse, but fortunately indexed, and respresents a remarkably broad refletcion on diverse learnign of the period. As such the parts are relatively common, but a fine set such as this is not, and quite desirable as well as attractive.