The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter. In the Translation attributed to Oscar Wilde.

Octavo, 2 volumes. Quarter leather with gilt titles to the spine, top edge gilt. One of the sixty numbered copies on orland paper, not the more common 61 to 960. In very good condition. The Satyricon is considered one of the gems of Western literature, and may be the earliest extant work classifiable as a novel, although some would give that honour to Chariton's Callirhoe. Petronius mixes togheter two antithetical genres: the cynic and parodic menippean satire, and the idealizing and sentimental Greek romance. The mixing of these two radically contrasting genres generates the sophisticated humor and ironic tone of Satyricon. A handsome set.