The Golden Asse of Apuleius translated by William Adlington [ANTIQUE HARDCOVER] 1943 • Liveright Publishing

The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius aka Being the Metamorphoses of Lucius Apuleius (An English Translation by William Adlington (1566) Revised 1915-1927) w. Essay by Charles Whibley.

ANTIQUE HARDCOVER [1943] LIVERIGHT PUBLISHING

Black & Gold Edition / 1943.  

Antique hardcover with dust jacket in very good condition.

Dust jacket is clean and in tact with some wear to edges; Housed in an archival quality jacket protector.

Book itself is excellent.  Looks and reads good as new w. a touch of erosion to gild on spine.

An enchanting story that has inspired generations of writers, including Boccaccio, Shakespeare, Cervantes and Keats 

Written towards the end of the second century AD, The Golden Ass tells the story of the many adventures of a young man whose fascination with witchcraft leads him to be transformed into a donkey. The bewitched Lucius passes from owner to owner - encountering a desperate gang of robbers and being forced to perform lewd 'human' tricks on stage - until the Goddess Isis finally breaks the spell and initiates Lucius into her cult. It has long been disputed whether Apuleius meant this last-minute conversion seriously or as a final comic surprise and the challenge of interpretation continues to keep readers fascinated.

Apuleius' enchanting story has inspired generations of writers such as Boccaccio, Shakespeare, Cervantes and Keats with its dazzling combination of allegory, satire, bawdiness and sheer exuberance, and The Golden Ass remains the most continuously and accessibly amusing book to have survived from Classical antiquity.