Ancient Greek Poets, Descriptions of Architecture, 1st/1st Ed. 1929 illustrated

"Daedalus and Thespis: The Contributions of the Ancient Dramatic Poets to Our Knowledge of the Arts and Crafts of Greece (Volume I - Architecture and Topography)" by Walter Miller, published by Macmillan Company, New York, 1929. First Edition, stated 1st printing January 1929.

Daedalus was the first Greek artist and craftsman, and Thespis, the first dramatist. A remarkable book: extensive passages from the Greek dramatists (in Greek and English) coupled with photographic images of the places and things described. "The description of the temple-sculptures that Euripides in this tragedy ["Ion at Delphi"] gives suggested the possible wealth of such contributions to our knowledge of the arts and crafts of Greece that might be found in the rest of our corpus dramaticorum. [from the Preface].

The texts are organized by the subjects-- names of architects, various temples and Greek gods' sanctuaries, Lyceum in Arcadia, Sanctuaries of Pan and Nymphs, Dwellings, Mycenaean Tombs, Fortifications, Various Buildings, Theater and Stage Architecture.

Hard boards, original blue cloth [some wear and sporadic loss of color- mostly spine: see photos]; large format- 8" x 11.1/2"; pen written inscription dated 1940 inside front cover; 329 pages + 48 monochrome plates on glossy paper, a few stains [foxing], very good condition.

Samuel Walter Miller (1864-1949) was an American linguist, classics scholar and archaeologist responsible for the first American excavation in Greece and a founder of the Stanford University Classics department.

Miller returned to the United States as an instructor of Greek at the University of Michigan during the 1886-87 school year and of Latin and Sanskrit in the 1887-88 year, beginning a fifty-year career as a college professor- without ever returning to finish his doctoral degree.

In 1929, Miller became professor of classical languages and archaeology. From 1914 to 1930 he was the dean of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri and during World War I served in the YMCA in France and was a regional director of the YMCA in Italy. In his 1919 commencement address he called for the creation of a Memorial Student Union building to honor the fallen of World War I. In September 1932, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by his alma mater the University of Michigan, and he retired in 1936. After his retirement, he taught at Southwestern in Memphis and also Washington University in St. Louis.

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