The Consolation of Philosophy

625 Madison Avenue, New York: Penguin Classics, 1980. Pictorial wraps, some shelf wear, rub. Interestingly, the cover shows art from the title page from a thirteenth-century edition over black b.g. as opposed to much more common white. Pages good w/some toning, lt. fox; no writing. Contents page removed. Concludes with a detailed five-page glossary. Here, is a philosophical work by the Roman statesman Boethius, written around the year 524. Described as the single most important and influential work in the West on Medieval and early Renaissance Christianity, as well as the last great Western work of the Classical Period. Boethius was an eminent public figure under the Gothic emperor Theodoric. He was an exceptional Greek scholar, and it was to the Greek philosophers that he turned when he fell from favor and was imprisoned in Pavia. Written in the period leading up to his brutal execution, "The Consolation of Philosophy" is a dialogue of alternating prose and verse between the ailing prisoner and his 'nurse,' Philosophy, whose instruction on the nature of fortune and happiness, good and evil, fate and free will, restore his health and bring him to enlightenment. The clarity of Boethius's thought and his breadth of vision made this work hugely popular throughout medieval Europe, and his ideas suffused the thought of Chaucer and Dante. This translation makes it accessible to the modern reader while losing nothing of its poetic artistry and philosophical brilliance. 188 pages. Insured post.. Soft Cover. Fair. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.