The incredibly rare English Translation of Longus’ Classic Greek Romance Daphnis and Chloe:
THE
PASTORAL AMOURS
OF
DAPHNIS and CHLOE.
A
NOVEL.
Written originally in Greek by LONGUS.
And translated into English
By JAMES CRAGGS, Esq.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
Adorned with CUTS.
LONDON:
Printed in the Year M. DCC. LXIV.
[Price Bound Two Shillings and Six-Pence]
Printed in 1764
Size 16mo, 6” x 3.5”, 184 pages.
Original binding of brown calf with five raised bands to the spine, outlined with double gilt bands, with gilt titles on a red morocco label in the second compartment. Original pastedowns and endpapers.
Condition very good, corners and edges a little rubbed, slight chipping to calf at hinges. Internally the book is in very clean condition, endpapers and first and last few pages slightly toned in outer margins, very light browning to margins of a few leaves, else the contents, including the plates, are very clean throughout.
Contains 6 charming full page plates, engraved by I. Taylor.
The ancient Greek story of Daphnis and Chloe seems to have held a fascination for the French, Schweiger lists many more editions in French than in any other language.
At the time of listing I could find many French copies but no English copies anywhere.
The romantic tale of Daphnis and Chloe, told by the Greek author Longus, deals with the simple and peaceful lives of shepherds in the country.
A young boy named Daphnis and a girl named Chloe are abandoned by their parents and raised by shepherds on the Greek island of Lesbos.
The two meet and gradually fall in love as they grow up.
After various trials, including Daphnis's capture by pirates, Daphnis and Chloe are reunited with their families and married to each other.
The popular story spread to Europe in the 1500s.
It was the main source for The Winter's Tale by Shakespeare and inspired various musical compositions, including the 1910 ballet Daphnis et Chloé by the French composer Maurice Ravel.
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