A 1774 Book On Ancient Athens Thomas Jefferson Recommended
Here's an excerpt from a book, published before the revolutionary
war, on the History of Greece. I'd bought the book at an auction, then
about a year later, I discovered, reading in a book, Letters and
Addresses of Jefferson, that Thomas Jefferson recommended the same book
to a student preparing to go to college. The book tells of the history
of Athens, the first Democracy-- about its leaders, their choices and
challenges. The chapter on Athenian government is a pretty amazing read.
war, on the History of Greece. I'd bought the book at an auction, then
about a year later, I discovered, reading in a book, Letters and
Addresses of Jefferson, that Thomas Jefferson recommended the same book
to a student preparing to go to college. The book tells of the history
of Athens, the first Democracy-- about its leaders, their choices and
challenges. The chapter on Athenian government is a pretty amazing read.
The
book, by Oliver Goldsmith, describes the history and thoughts by the
ancient Greeks on governing in Athens. The first edition was published
in 1774, but it's been reprinted over and over again since. But first
the story of how I found the book.
book, by Oliver Goldsmith, describes the history and thoughts by the
ancient Greeks on governing in Athens. The first edition was published
in 1774, but it's been reprinted over and over again since. But first
the story of how I found the book.
About ten or fifteen
years ago when I was at the peak of my bout with bibliomania (owning
probably 10-12,000 books, on the way to 15,000-- now I'm down to about
3-5000) I picked up the two volume Goldsmith book set, The Grecian
History; From the Earliest State to the Death of Alexander The Great, at
a Brown Brothers, a local auction,
I bought it because there was a chapter on The Government of Athens.
Cool, I thought. I'll see what people thought about democracy in Greece
BEFORE the establishment of the United States. I was amazed to actually
win the bidding, buying the 230+ year old set of books for the price of a
new best-seller-- $30.
years ago when I was at the peak of my bout with bibliomania (owning
probably 10-12,000 books, on the way to 15,000-- now I'm down to about
3-5000) I picked up the two volume Goldsmith book set, The Grecian
History; From the Earliest State to the Death of Alexander The Great, at
a Brown Brothers, a local auction,
I bought it because there was a chapter on The Government of Athens.
Cool, I thought. I'll see what people thought about democracy in Greece
BEFORE the establishment of the United States. I was amazed to actually
win the bidding, buying the 230+ year old set of books for the price of a
new best-seller-- $30.
