The Libraries of George III
George III was a keen bibliophile
Pub. Virgilii Maronis georgicorum libri quatuor = The Georgicks of Virgil : with an English translation and notes / by John Martyn.
174130.2 x 3.8 x 24.9 cm (book measurement (inventory)) | RCIN 1050935
This edition of Virgil’s pastoral poems is unusual in that it contains hand-coloured plates on botanical subjects. The volumes were completed by the botanist John Martyn (1699–1768) and include notes on the natural history of the Roman Empire.
The notes and accompanying plates by Martyn provide an insight into eighteenth-century perceptions of ancient agriculture; they include images of ploughs, astronomical measurements and botanical illustrations.