Townsend, The Rev. G., A. M. of Trinity College, Cambridge ‘The Oedipus Romanus; Or, An Attempt to Prove, From the Principles of Reasoning Adopted by the Rt. Hon. Sir William Drummond, in his Oedipus Judaicus, that the Twelve Caesars are the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac. – Addressed to the Higher and Literary Classes of Society’ Printed by A. J. Valpy, Took’s Court, Chancery Lane, London; sold by J. Hatchard, 190, Piccadilly, 1819.

Old quarter-cloth^[1] (separation and some slight chipping towards tops of spine hinges; moderate wear to feet of spine hinges and parts of surface of same) with paper-covered boards (heavy wear to outer corners). (Leaves comprising pp. 93-6 still mostly joined at outer edges; need separating.) [1 leaf] + [pp. 3-147]

[1] It is not clear whether it is original or not. An original printed title label is adhered to the spine, but whether it was issued thus or the title label was taken from an even earlier binding is unclear

About this Book Scan

Carefully scanned in full colour from our original printing of the 1819 first edition.

The Rev. G. Townsend’s Oedipus Romanus was an attempt to satirise Sir William Drummond’s speculations upon the allegorical zodiacal origin of certain Old Testament Bible stories in his then-recently-published original 1811 work Oedipus Judaicus. While Townsend’s intention was clearly satirical and in bad faith, his act in creating this book to mock Drummond’s work exemplifies the defensiveness that some British churchmen felt towards the Bible stories and the threat they felt from the emerging popularity of astrology in the early 19th century. On that account, it is historically important.