Commentary on the Dream of Scipio by Macrobius. Translated with an Introduction and Notes by William Harris Stahl. Number XLVIII of the Records of Civilization, Sources and Studies.

Stahl, William Harris:

Published by New York, London: Columbia University Press.

About this Item

XI, 278 p., Ill. Der Einband ist lichtbedingt leicht verfärbt, sehr vereinzelte Bleistift-Anstreichungen, ansonsten ein sehr gutes und sauberes Exemplar. The binding is slightly discolored due to light, very occasional pencil marks, otherwise a very good and clean copy. - Contents -- Introduction -- THE AUTHOR -- THE COMMENTARY -- SOURCES -- INFLUENCE -- STYLE -- MANUSCRIPTS, EDITIONS, AND TRANSLATIONS -- Marcus Tullius Cicero: Scipio's Dream -- Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius: Commentary on Scipio's Dream -- BOOK ONE -- BOOK TWO -- Appendix A: Macrobius and Heraclides' Theory of Planetary Revolutions -- Appendix B: Eratosthenes' Method of Measuring the Earth's Circumference -- Appendix C: Ancient Estimates of the Sun's Apparent Size -- Bibliography -- Index -- (Excerpt:) Preface: THE PRESENT STUDY happens to be the second volume in the Records of Civilization series to deal with the Late Latin encyclopedists who were largely responsible for transmitting a knowledge of classical philosophy, liberal arts, and science to the medieval world. Professor Leslie W. Jones s study of Cassiodorus An Introduction to Divine and Human Readings appeared in 1946. The small group of compilers to which Macrobius and Cassiodorus belonged, whose zeal it was, as the Roman Empire was expiring in the West, to preserve in digested form what they regarded as the most valuable contributions of classical civilization, are of major importance to medievalists because for centuries they served as the connecting link between the ancient and the medieval mind. And yet these authors have not received the attention they deserve from English-speaking scholars. Such neglect is perhaps understandable. Classical scholars cannot be blamed for overlooking fifth-hand epitomists and commentators when they often have access to the original works that these digesters pretend to be drawing upon. And medievalists are not readily attracted by compilations that appear to be wholly classical in content. Neither classical nor medieval, these late encyclopedists have not been widely studied in England and America, and their significance as an introduction to the medieval mind has not been generally appreciated. -- Such has not been the case on the Continent. French interest in the Neoplatonic and patristic encyclopedists is well known; German interest in the late compilers has been focused mainly upon the investigation of sources - an Undertaking that is fraught with difficulties. The rash Quellenjorschungen of the nineteenth century were for the most part foolhardy guesses in the dark, and British and American scholars had reason to look askance at them; but in the present century the conjectures of French and German scholars have been gradually yielding results [.]. Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 410. Seller Inventory # 1252719

Bibliographic Details

Title: Commentary on the Dream of Scipio by ...

Publisher: New York, London: Columbia University Press.

Binding: Cloth.

Condition: Gut