Ramsay - I Viaggi di Ciro, con un discorso sopra la Mitologia - 1729

A rare early Italian translation of Andrew Michael Ramsay’s significant philosophical travel novel about Cyrus the Great. The work, which first appeared in Paris in 1727, combines an imaginary journey through the cultures of antiquity with political, religious, and moral-philosophical reflections and is regarded as a remarkable example of European Enlightenment literature.

Ramsay, Andrew Michael (1686–1743): I Viaggi di Ciro, con un discorso sopra la Mitologia. Traduzione dal Francese idioma di F. Zannino Marsecco. In Venezia, presso Sebastiano Coleti, 1729. Wohl erste italienische Übersetzung. 303 Seiten. Mit typographischen Zierstücken und dekorativen Holzschnittinitialen. Zeitgenössischer flexibler Pergamentband mit handschriftlichem Rückentitel. 17 x 12 cm
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The Scottish philosopher and writer Andrew Michael Ramsay, a close confidant of the French archbishop and educator François Fénelon, narrates in his novel the youth and educational journey of the Persian ruler Cyrus. On his travels the protagonist encounters different peoples, forms of government, and religious traditions of the ancient world. The tale blends historical and mythological material with the political and pedagogical ideals of the early Enlightenment.

At the center is the notion that a good ruler attains wisdom and justice through encounters with foreign cultures, philosophical teachings, and religious traditions. Ramsay thus picks up the tradition of Fénelon’s famous Télémaque and develops it into an independent philosophical travel narrative. The work later influenced Jean-Jacques Barthélemy’s Voyage du jeune Anacharsis en Grèce.

The accompanying discourse on mythology examines the religious ideas of the ancient peoples and seeks common philosophical foundations of their traditions. Ramsay, who later became known especially for his ties to freemasonry, links ancient mythology with contemporary reflections on religion, reason, and the original unity of religious insight. The 1729 Italian translation documents the early international dissemination of this influential work.
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Contemporary parchment binding worn, with some staining in places, with a handwritten back-title. Occasional foxing. The front flyleaf is missing. Overall a beautiful, authentically preserved example of this early Italian edition of the important philosophical travel novel."