The first edition of the second English translation of Appian of Alexandria’s important ‘Historia Romana’. Written in the 2nd century AD, it spans the origins of Rome to the end of the Republic, with a detailed account of the Civil Wars, which here constitutes the second part. This translation, originally attributed to John Dryden, was produced by John Davies (1627-93) of Kidwelly. After studying at Oxford and Cambridge, and spending some time in France, he was employed by London booksellers as a translator from Latin and French.
This copy was in the Fox Pointe Manor Library, a rich collection of 17th-century English imprints gathered by Dr Howard Knohl.