(London: T. Roycroft, W. Wells & R. Scott, 1663).

RARE FIRST EDITION OF OGILBY'S VIRGIL IN THE ORIGINAL LATIN. A LARGE PAPER COPY WITH THE FAMOUS HOLLAR PLATES AND MAP. John Ogilby was born in or near Killemeare (Kirriemuir), Scotland in November 1600.
Using contacts made among his high-born clients, Ogilby was eventually taken to Ireland by Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, on his appointment as lord deputy there, and became tutor to his children. Ogilby then went on to establish Ireland's first theatre, the Werburgh Street Theatre, as a consequence of which he was made deputy-Master of the Revels in 1637. For the four years that the theatre was open, it was a great success but it had to be closed as a result of the Irish Rebellion of 1641.
Having narrowly missed being blown up in the castle he was defending, and after being shipwrecked on his homeward journey, Ogilby arrived back in England penniless and without a patron during the closing years of the Civil War. Finding his way on foot to Cambridge, he learned Latin from kindly scholars who had been impressed by his industry. He then ventured to translate Virgil into English verse (1649–1650), which brought him a considerable sum of money. The success of this attempt encouraged Ogilby to learn Greek from David Whitford, who was an usher in the school kept by James Shirley the dramatist.
Wenceslaus Hollar was a prolific and accomplished Bohemian graphic artist of the 17th century, who spent much of his life in England. His most famous illustrated works included the Virgil as offered here, Homer and Aesops Fables. He was also honoured for his maps and topographical works. wiki. Item #32843

First Edition. Rare Large-Paper Issue. Title page printed in red and black. The Gaddesden Park Copy with the armorial bookplate. and a foundational work from the Halsey library at Gaddesden Place in Hertfordshire. With 103 full-page engraved plates, comprising the elaborate frontispiece, a portrait frontispiece, and 101 plates by the Bohemian born Wenceslaus Hollar, William Faithorne and Pierre Lombart, mostly after Franz Cleyn (43 are engraved by Hollar, including the double-page map of Aeneas' travels), plus numerous beautifully engraved headpieces throughout. The plate of Silenus asleep at p.21 illustrating Eclogue 6 supplied from a smaller copy and loosely tipped in. As often with Ogilby editions, the plate counts seems to vary. (Wing, V601) Large folio, handsomely bound in full antique russia, the covers with double gilt fillet ruling at the borders and decorative blind-stamped inner borders, the spine with raised bands and lettering in gilt, marbled endleaves, all edges gilt with some handsome gauffering added to the giltwork. [4], 447 pp. A very handsome copy. The contents are clean and crisp, there are a few marginal repairs expertly accomplished, the binding sometime expertly refurbished at the hinge and spine extremities.