Homer, the Iliad

Walter Leaf (1852–1927) was a banker and classicist, whose various positions as chairman of the Westminster Bank, founder of the London Chamber of Commerce and president of the Hellenic Society reflected his wide-ranging professional and scholarly interests. Leaf was educated at Harrow School and won a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1870. He became senior classic in 1874 and was elected to a fellowship the following year. As a scholar Leaf was concerned with uncovering the physical reality of the classical world, a stance which set him apart from Jane Harrison and the Cambridge Ritual School. Leaf's The Iliad, with introduction and notes, first appeared in two volumes (1886–1888), and was regarded for several decades as the best English edition of Homer's epic poem. Volume 1 of the 1900 edition comprises Leaf's preface, an introduction to books 1-12 of the poem, and the annotated text.