A Specimen of Persian Poetry; or Odes of Hafez, With an English Translation and Paraphrase. . . With Historical and Grammatical Illustrations, and a complete Analysis, for the assistance of those who wish to study the Persian language.

London:: Printed and Sold at No. 76, Fleet-Street, 1774., 1774. 4to. [iv], xv, [1], 68 pp. Original full calf, gilt spine; neatly rebacked to style, preserving original endsheets. Inscribed by an early owner, "This Book belonging to Monsieur [Pierre?] Monneron." Extremely rare. This is the first edition in English of the ghazals of Hafez, translated by one of the leading Persian orientalists of his day, John Richardson, FAS of Wadham College, Oxford, and famous for his seminal work written in conjunction with Sir William Jones, the work being, A Dictionary, Persian, Arabic, and English, 1777. / Hafez was previously unknown to the western world until Count Karl Emerich Reviczky von Revisnye (1737-1793), the Hungarian Orientalist and bibliophile, 'discovered' him and brought his poetic classic to Europe with this Vienna printing. The work features an extensive text on Hafez and a translation of selected ghazals . Reviczky von Revisnye also issued in 1784, 1794 a catalogue of his Greek and Latin library, using the pseudonym of "Periergus Deltophilus". In the prefatory essay for that volume he shows an interest in the printing of Nicolas Jenson, Aldus Manutius, and the Estiennes. / Hafez was born in Shiraz, Persia and lived approximately from 1325/26–1389/1390. He is considered a mystic and poet. His life and poems are the subject of much analysis, commentary and interpretation, influencing post-fourteenth century Persian writing more than any other author. FULL TITLE: A Specimen of Persian Poetry; or Odes of Hafez, With an English Translation and Paraphrase. Chiefly from the Specimen Poeseos Persicae of Baron Revizky, Envoy from the Emperor of Germany to the Court of Poland. With Historical and Grammatical Illustrations, and a complete Analysis, for the assistance of those who wish to study the Persian language.