This book, housed in a custom slipcase and bound in full velum, represents a small part of early American and Colonial History. First, there is the bookplate of Francis Hopkinson included, with "O.H. (Oliver Hopkinson) 1849" written in pencil. At the top of the title page - "The Gift of Dr. Benjamin Franklin at Philad.a. December 1762." Below, in what appears to be a different hand from the note, is written "Oliver Hopkinson 1849". "Publii Virgilii Maronis Bucolica, Georgica, et Aeneis." (Johannis Baskerville, Birmingham 1757); ------ Thomas Hopkinson (1709 - 1751), father of Francis Hopkinson (1737 - 1791) , worked with Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790) on several of his experiments on electricity. He was also a member of The Junto. Franklin wrote: "The power of points to throw off electrical fire was first communicated to me by my ingenious friend, Thomas Hopkinson, since deceased, whose virtue and integrity in every station of life, public and private, will ever make his memory dear to those who knew him and knew how to value him." Thomas Hopkinson was a founder of both the Library Company of Philadelphia, as well as an original trustee of the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania), and served as first president of the American Philosophical Society. With The Junto and the Library Company of Philadelphia, he was deeply involved with books and shared several projects and interests with Franklin. Through this close connection, Francis Hopkinson also became deeply affiliated with Franklin, and thus the presentation of this gift. In December 1762, Franklin would have just returned from five years spent in England, presumably bringing this book with him to Philadelphia. From the W&M Law Library Website --- "This volume contains the three most important of Virgil’s works: the Pastorals ("Bucolics" or "Eclogues"), the Georgics, and the Aeneid. The Pastorals muse on the idyllic life of shepherds in northern Italy. The Georgics are, similarly, meditations on the nature of agriculture. The name "Georgics" refers to the Greek phrase for "working the land" and the word for “farmer.” Where Virgil's pastoral poems were largely imitative, the focus and depth of his Georgics were unprecedented. The Aeneid is Virgil's great epic, following the tradition of Homer." From the Francis Hopkinson Family Archives