Description

Coppée, Henry. The Classic and the Beautiful from the Literature of Three Thousand Years (6 volume set); By the Authors and Orators of all Countries. Philadelphia: Carson & Simpson, 1896. [11275] Six volumes in half leather, burgundy pebble cloth boards, five panels to the spines decorated in blind & gilt. Gilt titles to fronts, all page edges gilt. Binding show wear at the high points, very good joints (no cracks), all tightly-bound. 11 x 8 1/2 inches, clean texts. Extra engraved title page and portrait of Coppée in vol. i. All volumes with numerous plates and illustrations. The first four volumes have 504 pages; vol. five with 502 pp. and vol. six with 514. Each with many b/w plates. With a thorough index. Good. Hardcover. This is a very heavy set printed on high quality paper. It will ship expertly packed in two boxes. "Almost fourteen hundred authors and orators are represented in the work..." "The design of the work is to embrace the whole field of literature, ancient and modern, giving choice selections from eminent Historians, Poets, Philosophers, Sages, Scientists, Travelers, Statesmen, Dramatists and Authors of all ages, and also from the celebrated writers of story and song. The authors of our country and the best writers of England, Scotland and Ireland will be largely represented. Much space also will be devoted to translations from the French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and other modern tongues, thus affording facilities for becoming acquainted with the literature of Europe and the best results of culture and investigation in those fields. The classics will also be largely represented - Homer, Hesiod, Virgil, Plato, Juvenal, Seneca and many others - giving the most popular renderings. Oriental literature will also occupy a place in the present work..." - Preface. The set also contains literature from Palestine, the Koran, Zoroaster, Africa, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand, the Moors, Mexico, &c. Henry Coppée (1821-1895), b. Savannah, Georgia; d. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He attended Yale University for two years, worked as a civil engineer, and graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point in 1845. In the Mexican War he served in the 1st Artillery with Scott and was brevetted captain “for gallant and meritorious conduct” in the battles of Contreras and Churubusco. After the war he began his career as an educator, and during the Civil War, siding with the Union, he wrote various books of military science that are credited with improving the efficiency of the Northern armies. After the war, he was professor of English at West Point (1850-1855) and professor of English literature and history in the University of Pennsylvania (1855-1866). In addition to his military writings, he wrote a text book on Logic, a biography of General Grant, and several works on English and American Poets. Also a History of the Civil War in America , a History of the Conquest of Spain by the Arab-Moors , and a book of Songs of Praise for Christian Devotion . He was from 1865 to 1875 the president of Lehigh University, and for periods afterward fulfilled the role when it was vacant. He was a regent of the Smithsonian for 21 years, and lectured on International Law in Union University Law School, Albany. An active layman in the Episcopal Church, he served on many councils and as a delegate to the General Conventions.