1759 Edition of Plato’s Dialogue Concerning the Beautifull

PLATO. The Greater Hippias: A Dialogue of Plato Concerning The Beautifull. London: H. Woodfall, 1759. First Edition. Quarto, 127 pages. Modern calf-backed marbled boards, fresh endpapers. In the Greater  Hippias,In this book , Plato describes Socrates and Hippias set out to find a definition for "beauty", but are destined to fail due to their inability to formulate an answer which encompasses the entire concept. The text has an anatreptic purpose-- that is, the result of the dialogue is to defeat commonly held opinions, without necessarily offering a resolution. The Platonic concept of something “good in and of itself”  (truncated) makes its first appearance in this early dialogue, which can be read as much as a serious philosophical work as a light satirical comedy with two actors. Translated by Floyer Sydenham, whose Platonic scholarship was credited with “'just criticism and extensive learning, an elegant taste, and a genius naturally philosophic' by Thomas Taylor. Leaves rippled somewhat with light foxing. In very good condition. (Inventory #: 17035)