CHAPTER VIII

THE GREEK AND LATIN CLASSICS

BLACK LETTER VIRGIL

The collections of first and early editions of the Greek and Latin classics in the original which, a century or two ago, formed the backbone of nearly all collections of note, have since, as mentioned elsewhere, lost much of their interest for the bibliophile. A rare, uncut editio princeps of Homer may still produce from its sale, as in Dibdin’s day, “a little annuity,” and perhaps an annuity which would have made Dibdin gasp; but this volume may possibly be considered an exception.

The present practical neglect of the Greek and Latin languages, except as college exercises, may in a certain measure be responsible for the modern lack of interest in the original classics, since the bibliophile may be pardoned, in a sense, for not buying books in which his interest is limited to possession and which he is unable to read with any degree of satisfaction.

The past three hundred years of English literature, however, have produced a great number of translations from these classics, the best, no doubt, being made by men of independent income with the ability and leisure to turn their hands toward such work. A careful sifting of these translations, therefore, might very well furnish the bibliophile who is inclined toward such reading with a library of classics easily readable in good, accurate translation. The cost of such a collection would be comparatively moderate, and if care were taken in the selection to obtain first or early editions of the translations recognized as having the best literary qualities, there is little reason to doubt that the collection would have a very positive value. The subject is, perhaps, interesting enough to justify a few details.

The principal stumbling block, and that which renders the ordinary published “classic” libraries of doubtful value, is the delicate question of expurgation and that of abridgment. Any translation is, at best, a substitute; but an incomplete one is worse than none at all. There are, however, a few volumes in which the collector will be interested, which will be obtained, in all their original naïvete, only with difficulty.

Suppose a nucleus for such a collection were to be assembled. One would, of course, begin with Homer. The best translation in prose is by Andrew Lang and others; the Iliad, 1883; the Odyssey, 1879. The most readable verse translation is that by William Cullen Bryant, in four volumes, Boston, 1870-1871. This version, unfortunately, gives the Roman form of the names of the Greek gods—a concession to unnecessary corruption—but is otherwise very faithful.

After Homer, perhaps Plato’s Dialogues, of which the best translation is that by B. Jowett, in five volumes, Oxford, 1875, third edition, revised, 1892. And of Plutarch’s Lives, which follows naturally, the translation called Dryden’s, revised by Clough, five volumes, Boston and London, 1859. Virgil, from the Latins, would accompany these, and of this, a good translation is Dryden’s also, revised this time by John Carey, in three volumes, London, 1803. A much rarer edition is the “Aeneidos” of Thomas Phaer, London, 1584, with several reprints, in small black letter.

As a souvenir of lovely Sicily, we would require, of course, the pastorals of Theocritus, of which the best translation is that in prose by Andrew Lang, London, 1880. In this rendering two passages of about two lines each are left untranslated, but the omission is too slight to be serious. The same volume also contains the poems of Bion and Moschus. A good verse translation is that by C. S. Calverley, Cambridge (England), 1869. With Theocritus we must read Sappho, “the poetess,” the ancients called her, as they called Homer “the poet.” Meleager, in the poem of his “Garland” of verse, says that he includes “of Sappho’s only a few but all roses.” And so, indeed, are the few precious fragments which have come down to us. All the known fragments of this poetess, even mere references or quotations of a word or a phrase from ancient writers, which have survived, have been gathered by H. T. Wharton, who gives in his little volume called Sappho, the Greek text and a literal translation of each fragment, together with various verse translations of interest. The first edition of this book appeared in 1885, the third and definite edition in 1895. Both were published in London; the former by David Stott, the latter by John Lane.

Of Anacreon’s lyrics, only a few fragments remain. The Anacreontea were translated by Thomas Stanley, London, 1651; reprinted by Lawrence and Bullen, London, 1893. The reprint may be had on Japan vellum and on vellum.

Of the Greek Anthology, the famous collection of Greek epigrams composed between about B. C. 450 and A. D. 550, there are many volumes of translated “selections.” The best and most poetic, although the rendering is in prose, is that by J. W. Mackail, London, 1890, revised 1906 and 1911. The greater part of the Anthology, which contains over three thousand five hundred epigrams, was translated into readable verse by Major Robert McGregor, London, 1864, but the spirit of this rendering is indifferent. A complete translation into prose of the entire Anthology, omitting only the ultra-erotic and paederastic epigrams, is now in process of publication in five volumes by Heinemann, London. This would be, when complete, the most desirable all-around translation were it not for the bald and unpoetic literalness of the rendering; of which, as an instance, one could note the passage in the two hundred and twenty-fifth Amatory epigram, which might be translated, “I have a wound of love which never heals * * *”; but which is rendered, “My love is a running sore * * *”

With the poets, Catullus must be included; the best and only complete translation is that by Richard F. Burton and Leonard Smithers, London, privately printed, 1894. This volume gives the Latin text, a complete prose rendering by Smithers, and a characteristic verse rendering by Burton. In the latter, some erotic passages are missing, due, according to Lady Burton’s statement, to an incomplete manuscript.

Among the dramatists there are Aeschylus, whose tragedies were translated in verse by R. Potter, London, 1777, and Sophocles, whose tragedies were translated by the same hand, London, 1788. Edward FitzGerald’s rendering of the Agamemnon of Aeschylus, London, 1876, which does not, however, pretend to be a close translation, may well be included for the unusual beauty of its verse. The comedies of Terence have had several translators. The best close rendering is that in prose, privately printed by the “Roman Society,” in two volumes, 1900-1901. Copies of this translation are scarce, as the edition was limited to two hundred and sixty copies.

Aristophanes is, of course, essential, but of the eleven comedies of his which are extant, there is only one complete translation, that privately printed under the imprint of the “Athenian Society,” in two volumes, London, 1912, and limited to six hundred and twenty-five copies. These comedies have, perhaps, no equal in all literature, except in Rabelais, and the translation mentioned not only does them full justice, although in prose, but also furnishes exhaustive and illuminating notes necessary for the full understanding of all the humor. Four of the comedies were translated into admirable verse by J. H. Frere, Malta, 1839, and are well worth having, although, of course, Aristophanes’ frequent and characteristic “obsceneties” are omitted.

Among the satirists we have the Latins, Martial and Juvenal, and the Greek Lucian. The best Martial in English is the “Ex Otio Negotium” of R. Fletcher, London, 1656, reprinted in an edition of one hundred and five copies in 1893. Only selected epigrams are given, those selected being rendered rather freely, but there is no semblance of emasculation and the essential genius of translation is present. A good Juvenal is the verse translation by Robert Stapylton, London, 1647. A fair prose rendering, with the Latin text, is found in an anonymous translation issued, with Sheridan’s translation of Persius, in 1777. Of Lucian’s many works, there are almost innumerable translations, nearly all of which are expurgated. A good rendering of Selected Dialogues is that by Howard Williams, London, Bell. The “True History,” which contains, as might be expected, the wildest flights of imagination, was translated by Francis Hickes, London, 1634; privately reprinted in a limited edition, with the Greek text, in 1896.

The immortal “Golden Ass” of Lucius Apuleius is attractive in the quaint Elizabethan version of William Adlington, of which five editions in small black letter were printed between 1566 and 1639. A modern reprint was issued by David Nutt, London, in 1893. The translation is not always accurate, but it is sufficiently so and it is particularly treasured as a fine specimen of the prose of that period. Apuleius exists in complete translation in the rendering by F. D. Byrne, printed in Paris in 1904, in a limited and private edition. The edition has numerous indifferent plates, and was reprinted, in incomplete translation, with several plates omitted, under a London imprint, of the same date. The translation reads rather more easily than the rendering by Thomas Taylor, London, 1822, and includes the erotic passages which, like all similar passages in the classics, are incorporated with ingenuous shamelessness and are, as might be expected, quite harmless. For Taylor’s translation, these “passages suppressed” were supplied on separate sheets.

Among the “impudiques et charmants,” as Pierre Louys calls them, must be mentioned the famous Satyricon of Petronius, of which Charles Carrington has printed the only complete translation, with his own imprint, Paris 1902, in an edition of five hundred and fifteen copies, since reprinted. The first edition bears a slip attributing the translation to Oscar Wilde, but the work has not the slightest internal evidence to support this. Also the “Priapeia” a collection of Latin epigrams of the best period, all bearing on the god Priapus. Two hundred and fifty copies of a translation of this small anthology were issued by the Erotika Biblion Society, “Athens” 1888. Notes on various subjects occupy more than half the volume.

Of the early romances, the most desirable is doubtless the “Daphnis and Chloe” of Longus who wrote early in the Christian era. This work has been said to belong more to French than to Greek literature, so enthusiastically was it adopted in France; and, in fact, the first printed edition of the work, translated by Bishop Amyot in 1559, preceded the editio princeps of the Greek text by forty years. A great many French editions have been printed, some with charming illustrations. The edition with notes by A. Pons and vignettes by Scott, Paris, Quantin 1878, gives a full French translation of the Greek text and an exhaustive bibliography in an attractive format. The only complete translation in English is that issued to subscribers by the Athenian Society in 1896.

This Athenian Society issued to two hundred and fifty legitimate subscribers, between the years 1895 and 1898, seven volumes of complete translations from the Greek, of which several volumes, like the Longus, were the first complete translations into English. On account of the very limited issue, the volumes are very scarce, especially in sets. The complete issue was as follows: Lucian: The Ass. Dialogues of Courtesans. Amores.—Procopius: Anecdota.—Alciphron: Letters.—Longus: Daphnis and Chloe.—Heliodorus: Three books of the Æthiopica.—Achilles Tatius: Four Books of The Loves of Cleitophon and Leucippe.—Aristophanes: The Acharnians. The Knights. The Clouds. The volumes also included the Greek text.

The general subject of classic translations is an interesting one and capable of almost infinite expansion. One might form a very imposing collection of books by merely gathering editions of Daphnis and Chloe, for instance. But the bibliophile, whether he collects Greek and Latin translations, or books on angling, can perhaps best follow his own taste and judgment, when once he has secured a nucleus from which to start, and fairly understands the possibilities—and limitations—of his subject.

These books—thin boards and sheets of fragile paper—have lived while countless men have died; through the rise and fall of princes; through wars and ruin and tempests.

Other hands, long since forgotten, have cared for them and kept them safely. Now they are here in trust with me; and I, in my turn, linger over them, hoping that other Owners, yet unborn, may treat them gently as I, and those before, have done.