Hieron ou portrait de la condition des rois

First bilingual edition, with French facing Greek, translated by Pierre Coste, with his footnotes. Title page printed in red and black. Extended preface by Pierre Coste.
Copy bearing the arms of Queen Elisabeth Farnese of Spain, Princess of Parma, queen from 1714 to 1746. A woman of power whose policies profoundly influenced Spain. Double coat of arms surmounted by a closed royal crown, encircled by the collars of the Orders of the Holy Spirit and the Golden Fleece. Dexter: Spain; sinister: Farnese ("or with six fleurs-de-lys azure, 3,2,1"). An intriguing feature of the queen’s arms: the collars of the Orders of the Holy Spirit and of the Golden Fleece, although these orders were never bestowed upon women.
Contemporary full speckled blond calf binding. Spine with raised bands richly gilt. Crimson morocco title-piece. Arms gilt-stamped at the centre of the covers. Triple fillet border on the covers. All edges gilt. Slight wear to headcaps. Upper joint largely split. Lower joint split at head. 

Hieron is a dialogue by Xenophon between a philosopher, Simonides, and a king, Hieron; through Simonides’ questions emerges a vision of kingship. As the edition dates from 1711, and Elisabeth Farnese only acceded to royal dignity in 1714, the association of this text with the rare arms of the young and newly crowned queen takes on a distinctly symbolic dimension: a reflection on power and on the way of preparing for it through the reading of the Ancients.