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Watercolour of Buckingham House's East Library
The Libraries of George III

George III was a keen bibliophile

VIRGIL (70–19 BC)

Pub. Virgilii Maronis georgicorum libri quatuor = The Georgicks of Virgil : with an English translation and notes / by John Martyn.

1741

30.2 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.


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