(London: J.M. Dent, 1929).

MARCUS AURELIUS' CLASSIC WORK, HIS PERSONAL STOIC MEDITATIONS. His recurring thought is to consider personal judgment of oneself and others from a cosmic point of view. Mueller's illustrations are powerfully reminiscent of the classical world.
The twelve books were composed by Aurelius in Greek while he was on campaigns during the last years of his reign and were first published posthumously. The books were written in an informal manner, generally dealing with philosophical observations about the world-order and man’s relationship to it. They clearly show his adherence to Stoicism and in them we find deeply personal expressions of an aging Emperor, somewhat disillusioned and despairing, in the final years of his reign.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was probably the last great proponent of Stoicism. Aside from the first book, in which he pays his respects to his teachers and influences, the work has no formal structure, which gives it the character of a diary or journal and makes its reflections more personal and immediate.
These meditations, written by the Emperor while in the midst of armed struggle and during the great military campaigns of his final years, “record his thoughts about the meaning of world-order and the relationship of man... they show him to be disillusioned and despondent, seeking fortitude against the fear of death, the cares of this world and the misdeeds and injustices of others.”. Item #34861

Early Reprint by the publisher. Illustrated with decorated endleaves, frontispiece and title-page Small 8vo, publisher's original cloth, the spine decorated in gilt. xxii, [2], 182 pp. A very fine copy.