Konstantinos Hermoniakos' paraphrase of The Iliad (Venice: Stefano de Sabio, 1526).

The Greek alphabet first appeared in print in Latin texts which incorporated Ancient Greek quotations, from 1465 onwards. Over time, however, from the first setting down of the Homeric epics to the beginning of the modern era, the Greek language had undergone many changes, enough to make the publication of this translation from ancient to modern forms viable. It is based on a 14th-century paraphrase of the ancient text by Konstantinos Hermoniakos, who was working in one of the fragments of the Byzantine Empire left after the Fourth Crusade. This edition of The Iliad is the first book printed in a more modern form of Greek.

Donated by Thomas Baker.