The Iliad of Homer and the Odyssey of Homer, Both Engraved by Thomas Piroli from the Compositions of John Flaxman Sculptor

Rome, 1793. 1/4 leather. Very Good. Thomas Piroli (John Flaxman). The 1793 1st appearance of the Thomas Piroli engravings (from the compositions of John Flaxman) of both The Iliad and The Odysssey. Collected in a single volume which has been bound in a handsome 19th century 1/4 leather over marbled boards. An oblong folio, solid and VG+ (with light wear at the tips). Original plain blue wrappers, title page plus 28 plates for The Odyssey, title page plus 34 plates for The Iliad. Armorial bookplate (Thomas Cordes) at the front pastedown, neat 1862 inscription (also by Cordes) at the first blank endpaper, light staining along the edges of the blank rear endsheets. The true 1st Piroli printing of these famous plates, much reprinted, along with Aeschylus and Hesiod (whose engravings William Blake was famously engaged to create in 1805). Thomas Piroli's interpretation of both The Iliad and The Odyssey (the first two of the four Piroli titles) is a strikingly beautiful production, especially on the blue paper. Many later versions were printed, with the text in French. The influence though of John Flaxman on William Blake is clearly seen in a number of the plates.