Gore Vidal's fictional recreation of the Roman Empire teetering on the crux of Christianity and ruled by an emperor who was an inveterate dabbler in arcane hocus-pocus, a prig, a bigot, and a dazzling and brilliant leader.
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Gore Vidal's fictional recreation of the Roman Empire teetering on the crux of Christianity and ruled by an emperor who was an inveterate dabbler in arcane hocus-pocus, a prig, a bigot, and a dazzling and brilliant leader.
Read Less
Add this copy of Julian to cart. $31.33, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Clarita, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1985 by Ballantine Books.
Add this copy of Julian: a Novel to cart. $34.34, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Clarita, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1977 by Random House Inc.
Add this copy of Julian: a Novel to cart. $35.75, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Clarita, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2003 by Vintage.
Add this copy of Julian to cart. $45.98, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Clarita, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1993 by Abacus Books.
Add this copy of Julian to cart. $60.72, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Clarita, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1984 by Modern Library.
Add this copy of Julian: a Novel to cart. $61.01, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Clarita, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2003 by Vintage.
Add this copy of Julian to cart. $71.76, new condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Clarita, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1993 by Abacus Books.
Add this copy of Julian to cart. $90.00, very good condition, Sold by Revere Books, ABAA & IOBA, ships from Fernandina Beach, FL, UNITED STATES, published 1981 by Franklin Library.
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Seller's Description:
Near Fine in Not Issued jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Signed by Author First Franklin Library Limited edition. Issued signed by Vidal. "Special Message" by Vidal for this edition. Gilt-stamped leather-covered boards, all edges gilt, satin pagemarker. Issued without dustjacket. Minimal wear to the edge gilt, mostly on the topedge. Near Fine condition.
Add this copy of Julian to cart. $150.00, very good condition, Sold by Ground Zero Books, Ltd. rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Silver Spring, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1981 by The Franklin Library.
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Seller's Description:
Quentin Fiore (specially commissioned map) Very good. [18], 493, [3] pages. Map. Partial Bibliography. A Note by Gore Vidal points out that he has written a novel and not a history. Printed on archival paper with gilded edges. The endsheets are of moire fabric with a silk ribbon page marker. Smyth sewing and concealed muslin joints. This book is in full leather with hubbed spines. Includes "A special message to subscribers from Robert Penn Warren." Signed by the author. Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925-July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and essays interrogated the social and cultural sexual norms he perceived as driving American life. As a novelist, Vidal explored the nature of corruption in public and private life. His style of narration evoked the time and place of his stories, and delineated the psychology of his characters. His third novel, The City and the Pillar, offended the literary, political, and moral sensibilities of conservative book reviewers, the plot being about a dispassionately presented male homosexual relationship. In the historical novel genre, Vidal recreated the imperial world of Julian the Apostate (r. AD 361-363) in Julian. Julian was the Roman emperor who attempted to re-establish Roman polytheism to counter Christianity. In satire, Myra Breckinridge explores the mutability of gender roles and sexual orientation as being social constructs established by social mores. Quentin Fiore (February 12, 1920-April 13, 2019) was a graphic designer, who worked mostly in books. Julian is a 1964 novel by Gore Vidal, a work of historical fiction written primarily in the first person dealing with the life of the Roman emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus (known to Christians as Julian the Apostate), who reigned from 360 to 363 A.D. Julian was the last direct relative of Constantine the Great to take up the purple, his father being Constantine's half-brother. As emperor, he attempted to destroy the influence of the Christian church. His goals were to bring back firstly the worship of the old Roman pantheon, secondly other religions including Judaism (he attempts to restore the Jewish Temple), and thirdly-with special emphasis upon the growing crisis on Rome's frontiers-Mithraism, a mystery religion that had been popular among Roman soldiers. The book takes the form of the correspondence between two Hellenistic pagans, Libanius, who is considering writing a biography of Julian, and Priscus, who possesses Julian's personal memoir. This outstanding book is bound in genuine leather and features gilded, sewn in pages and ribbon marker, simply superb quality, Franklin Library at its best. The Franklin Library was a division of The Franklin Mint that produced fine collector edition books over three decades ending in the year 2000. For this reason all Franklin Library editions are now considered "out of print" and are no longer available for sale from the Franklin Mint. The Franklin Library produced books in three different binding styles referred to as full genuine leather, imitation leather, and quarter bound genuine leather. The full leather bound editions were produced through out the Franklin Library's full life span and the other two styles (imitation and quarter bound) were only produced through the 1970's and 80's. Below are some of the characteristics found in all Franklin Library editions along with more detailed information about the different binding styles. All Editions: " High quality paper; " Pages that are sewn not glued into the binding; " Gold gilded page edges on all three sides; " Raised spine bands that give each book that distinctive antique look. The genuine full leather bound editions are the highest quality of the three. While most characteristics remained constant through out the different series and years of production the style of end papers varied from silk moiré...
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. Signed by the author. Limited edition, privately printed and individually signed by the author. Blue leather boards with gilt leaf design on boards and spine; four raised cords on spine. Text block is gilt. Free endpapers are moire fabric with a matching silk ribbon page marker.
The best historical novel I know. The outstanding work of Vidal's.
Scottjb
Mar 13, 2008
Timeless writing on a lost time...
Julian, by Gore Vidal, is a wonderful read. It takes you immediately into the fade of Greek rule, circa 300 AD, leading you by correspondences between multiple stakeholders, providing the reader a variety of sidelong views of the time, and the personage, Julian. As it is a tale of the rise and fall of an Emperor, it is at once entertaining, full of intrigue and guile, and informative historically. It is an exquisite novelist's history of Julian and his times, with the characteristically wry conversations you would expect from Vidal -- but they proceed from his characters -- their comments interwoven throughout their epistles. There is humor, hubris, sadness for a lost world of philosophy -- times that are gone -- and a wistfulness for political leadership once that examined thought and beauty -- times clouded as they gave way to the era of papal infallibility, faith and belief -- as Christianity took hold. Most highly recommended!
