MAJOR, Thomas (1720-1799). The Ruins of Paestum, Otherwise Posidonia, in Magna Graecia. London: James Dixwell for T. Major, 1768.

Folio (521 x 343 mm). Engraved coat of arms on dedication, 25 engraved plates by Major after Jollie and others, 6 engraved head- and tail-pieces. (Some spotting and toning, mostly to title-page and margins.) ORIGINAL ROSE CLOTH WITH PRINTED COVER LABEL, contemporary (original?) gilt-lettered quarter roan (wear and toning to extremities, renewed endpapers, hinges reinforced). Provenance: H.K. Beazley (booksellers' ticket).

FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH, of the first detailed account of the ruins discovered in 1746, published simultaneously with the French translation. "Major had engraved the large topographical plates for Wood's Palmyraand Baalbeck and the success of those works probably inspired him to produce a similar work on Paestum, whose remains had been recently recognized as important classical monuments, and for which there was little published material available. In fact the temples at Paestum were discovered as late as 1746... The importance of Major's work is underlined by the extensive list of subscribers which includes Wood, Dawkins, Sir William Chambers, Stephen Riou, Le Roy, Barthelemy, and Soufflot" (Blackmer 1065). Cicignara 2680; Fowler 187; Harris 538.