The Tragedies of Aeschylus Translated. 
Potter, Robert - translator
Norwich, 1777
 
Quarto(284 × 220 mm), pp. xxviii, [6], 519, [1]. Complete with the half-title and list of subscribers. Uncut in the original marbled wrappers! Rudimentarily, but neatly rebacked with heavy tape, minor wear at some corners, else Fine. First edition of the first complete English translation of Aeschylus - the first English translation of an Aeschylus play was Thomas Morell’s Prometheus in Chains(1773), followed by this complete translation. Potter’s efforts garnered him wide praise. A subscriber's copy: Thomas Gooch of Benacre Hall, Suffolk - signed and dated by him on the half-title. While woebegone copies of this book can be had with decent frequency, ones in original wrappers are a downright scarcity(as many books of this vintage are) - I could only locate one in sales records. An Olympian copy seemingly gifted by Prometheus to us mere mortals.
 
“Aeschylus deserves to be seen as the true creator of tragedy. Before his plays, only a single actor was positioned onstage at any given time, and the chorus was the most important element on stage. The actor could wonder aloud or have conversations with the chorus, but there was no room for person-to-person dialogue. By adding a second actor to the first, he originated the genuine dramatic dialogue, which he made the chief part of the play by gradually cutting down the choral parts. He also made much greater use of the scenic apparatus than his predecessors. He introduced masks for the players, and by vibrant and richly embroidered trailing garments, high boots, head-dresses, and other means, gave them a grand imposing aspect above that of common men; and he fitted up the stage with decorative painting and machinery. All these features became the standard elements of ancient drama.”(UPenn)
 
This collection features Agamemnon, which contains the famous reminder that our inescapable suffering is the harbinger of wisdom - indelibly etched into my psyche after hearing it utilized by a future martyr(RFK) to soothe a citizenry shocked by the murder of another martyr and exemplar of humanity(MLK) on that dark spring night in 1968.
 
[philosophy, classics, literature]