62 | THE FIFTIES 1950-1959
1952-1958 Book illustrations 129-133 are all illustrated in Cornelius Tacitus, translated by G G Ramsay, The Reign of Nero, London: The Folio Society, 1952
The Reign of Nero 1952
The Reign of Nero In 1952, Eric Fraser received his first commission from the Folio Society, to illustrate The Reign of Nero, a translation by George Gilbert Ramsay (1839-1921) of excerpts of the Annals, the final work of the Roman historian, Cornelius Tacitus (56-117 AD). The Annals provides one of the major sources for our knowledge of the Emperor Nero, who reigned between 54 and 68 AD, and has contributed to the popular view of his behaviour as tyrannical.
129 THE FIRE OF ROME signed pen and ink with bodycolour 8 3⁄4 x 5 1⁄2 inches Illustrated: frontispiece
130 NERO pen and ink with bodycolour 2 1⁄4 x 9 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: binding design
131 THE PRAETOR ANTISTIUS WROTE SOME LIBELLOUS VERSES UPON THE EMPEROR WHICH HE READ ALOUD AT A LARGE BANQUET IN THE HOUSE OF OSTORIUS SCAPULA signed pen and ink with bodycolour 5 1⁄4 x 9 1⁄4 inches Illustrated: page 73, ‘A Case of Forgery and the Murder of Pedanius Secundus’