Bestiaria Latina: Google Books and More

Bauhuis: Epigrammata

2012-03-04T17:25:00.001-05:00

Epigrammata by Bernard Bauhuis (1620)

This is a collection of epigrams by a Jesuit scholar from Antwerp, and it looks like I can gather some religious distichs here, although the poems are admittedl on the long side (and written in a nice variety of meters, too, I should add). For a distich, here is one right at the beginning of the book:

Peccati Punitio
Ad scelerum poenas ultrix venit ira Tonantis;
Hoc graviore manu, quo graviore pede.

Here's another one - as you can see, this is a Jesuit poet who likes to make use of his classical learning, too:

Disce Mori
Certus ut evites Lethen, Acheronta, Stygemque,
Ne vive, tantum discito semper mori.

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von Böcken: Epigrammata Miscellanea

2012-03-03T17:23:00.000-05:00

Epigrammata Miscellanea by Johann Caspar von Böcken (1705)

The epigrams are organized into seven "decades" with an appendix of poems that the author promises are "metri rarioris." The Google Books scan is unfortunately a bit blurry, but basically readable (I wish they would offer the color scans of these later books as they are doing for the 16th- and 17th-century books!). I'll certainly be able to find some nice distichs here, such as this one:
15. Officium Iudicis
Iudex iustitiae sit sidus et integer index;
Ni faciat, vindex est gravis ipse Deus.

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Pauly: Anthologia poematum latinorum aevi recentioris

2012-03-02T21:54:00.000-05:00

Anthologia poematum latinorum aevi recentioris by August Pauly (1818)

The section on Elegica-Epigrammata-Gnomica-Aenigmata begins on p. 141 and runs for almost 150 pages. there is an index of authors with some bibiographical information in the back of the book. Although the poems are on the long side, I might find a few good distichs here, too!

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Glandorpius: Distichorum liber

2012-03-01T21:53:00.000-05:00

Familiae Juliae gentis, item Distichorum liber by Johann Glandorp (1576)

The distichs of Glandorpius (which are titled) begin on p. 303 and run through p. 335. For a modern edition, see Suringar's 1874 Ioannes Glandorpius in zijne Latijnsche disticha.

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Weber: Aspects of Death

2012-02-29T19:54:00.000-05:00

Aspects of Death by Frederick Parkes Weber (1918)

The full title of the book is Aspects of death and correlated aspects of life in art, epigram, and poetry: Contributions towards an anthology and an iconography of the subject, illustrated especially by medals, engraved gems, jewels, ivories, antique pottery, etc.. This enormous book, appx. 800 pages long, contains all kinds of intriguing material. There is a detailed table of contents along with an itemized list of illustrations.

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Hessler: Latin Epigram of the Middle English Period

2012-02-28T19:54:00.000-05:00

The Latin Epigram of the Middle English Period by Lewis Burtron Hessler (1916)

This is a volume conceived as a follow-up to Thomas Wright's Anglo-Latin Satirical poets and Epigrammatists of the Twelfth Century. Although it is quite short (just under 20 pages), it contains both the Latin text and an English translation.

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Van Vlaenderen: Epigrammata Miscellanea

2012-02-27T22:55:00.000-05:00

Epigrammata Miscellanea by Antoine-Ferdinand Van Vlaenderen (1666)

This is an absolutely delightful collection of epigrams - distichs, in fact! I will be able to get quite a large number of distichs from this book for my summer project.

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Lubin: Florilegii diversorum epigrammatum veterum

2012-02-26T22:56:00.000-05:00

Florilegii diversorum epigrammatum veterum by Eilhard Lubin (1600)

Lubin provides the Latin renderings of the Greek epigrams, which are presented with the Greek and Latin on facing pages.

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Junius: Emblemata et Aenigmata

2012-02-24T21:50:00.001-05:00

Emblemata et Aenigmata by Hadrianus Junius (1565)

Hadrianus Junius is best known for his wonderful collection of Greek proverbs: Adagia: Proverbiorum, paroemiarum et parabolarum omnium collectio absolutissima (1643; Google Books edition). Unfortunately the Google Books scan is not the best for the image quality, but the book is very readable, with just a few blurry pages. Note that the commentary on the emblems comes after the presentation of the emblems, which are 58 in number. The riddles are 44 in number, and there is a poem which prefaces the riddles which contain their solutions.

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Musae Anconitanae

2012-02-23T21:41:00.000-05:00

Musae Anconitanae by Carlo di Sant'Antonio da Padova (1674)

This book by Carlo di Sant'Antonio da Padova (1621-1695) contains four books of epigrams: Libri IV - I. Sacroroum, II. Moralium, III, Heroicorum, IV. Iucundorum Variorumque - along with some anagrams and some riddles, too.

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Binder: Flores Aenigmatum Latinorum

2012-02-22T22:12:00.000-05:00

Flores Aenigmatum Latinorum by Wilhelm Binder (1857)

The book is divided up into aenigmata nominalia, followed by aenigmata syllabica and then aenigmata literalia, plus miscellanea, with a German language key in the back.

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Textor: Sylloge

2012-02-21T22:10:00.000-05:00

Sylloge variorum aenigmatum, apophthegmatum, gnomarum, historiarumque by Joannis Textor (1612)

The categories start with Sancta Scriptura, followed by the Mundus, then Tempus, Ignis, Aves, and on and on. This is a delightful anthology, very readable, mostly in Latin, along with some German.

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Ker: Epigrams by Martial

2012-02-20T23:34:00.001-05:00

Epigrams by Martial, ed. Walter C. A. Ker

GoogleBooks - vol 1 - vol 2
GoogleBookstore - vol 1 - vol 2

This is the old Loeb edition, published in 1919-1920, with facing Latin text and English translation.

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Bohn: The Epigrams of Martial

2012-02-19T23:42:00.001-05:00

The Epigrams of Martial, ed. by Henry George Bohn

This is a great collection of English translations of Martial's epigrams. Each poem has a literal translation and usually at least one or more verse translations from a range of English sources. The naughty poems are translated into Italian, not English. :-)

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Chase: The Distichs of Cato

2012-02-18T22:43:00.002-05:00

The Distichs of Cato by Wayland Johnson Chase (1922)

This book contains the Latin text along with an English translation prepared by Chase, based on earlier English translations with a bit of an archaic feel. There's also a detailed introduction to the text.

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Vulteius: Epigrammata

2012-02-17T20:28:00.002-05:00

Epigrammatum Lbri IIII by Johannes Vulteius (1537)

I love the emblem on the cover page of this book. It shows the crane holding its rock in order to stand vigil - the idea is that if the crane falls asleep, it will drop the rock and wake up. Quite a few of these epigrams are on the long side, but there are some good epigrams in here, too!

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Cuechler: Florilegium Epigrammatum veterum

2012-02-16T21:01:00.001-05:00

Florilegium Epigrammatum veterum by Elias Cuechler (1618)

This book contains Greek epigrams rendered into Latin verse, often with multiple versions, as well as a literal rendering.

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Paterson: Epigrammata

2012-02-15T21:00:00.001-05:00

Epigrammatum libri octo by Ninian Paterson (1678)

In addition to the epigrams there are also some poetic paraphrases of the Psalms. The epigrams are on religious subjects and they tend to be on the long side, although there are a few distichs in there, too.

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Flayder: Sal Musarum

2012-02-14T21:07:00.000-05:00

Sal Musarum by Friedrich H. Flayder (1631)

This is a collection of Latin epigrams, as the title explains: "Epigrammata latina ex omnibus omnium saeculorum atque gentium Poetis, qui reperiri potuerunt umquam, non nisi acutissima ac venustissima collecta." As promised, there are ancient and modern authors, with some epigrams by the editor, Flayder, as an appendix at the back of the book.

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A Dictionary of Select and Popular Quotations

2012-02-13T08:34:00.000-05:00

A Dictionary of Select and Popular Quotations (1873)

As the full title of the book explains, this is "A Dictionary of Select and Popular Quotations which are in daily use: taken from the Latin, French, Greek, Spanish, and Italian languages, together with a copious collection of law-maxims and law-terms translated into English with illustrations historical and idiomatic." The book is arranged alphabetically, with all the language combined. Each quotation contains a brief note about its meaning and usage along with an English translation. Sources are sometimes given. Many of the Latin items are bits of Latin verse.

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Long: Eastern Proverbs and Emblems

2012-02-12T08:32:00.000-05:00

Eastern Proverbs and Emblems by James Long (1881)

As the introduction to this unusual and fascinating book explains, "This work, begun a quarter of a century ago in the jungles of India for the instruction of peasants and women, is designed to afford some help to the following classes: Orientalists, Lovers of Folk-Lore, Teachers, and Preachers." The original languages are not provided, but only the English translation - and each one is accompanied by a brief essay in English. At the end of each essay there is a list of comparative proverbs from different traditions, mostly Eastern but sometimes with European parallels.

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Hayes: Corolla Hymnorum Sacrorum

2012-02-11T08:31:00.000-05:00

Corolla Hymnorum Sacrorum by John Lord Hayes (1887)

This book contains a selection of Latin hymns, with both the Latin text and a facing English translation. Authors include Augustine, Gregory the Great, Bernard of Clairvaux, Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas, as well as numerous anonymous hymns.

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Ordronaux: Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum

2012-02-10T00:30:00.001-05:00

Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum by John Ordronaux (1870)

This delightful edition contains the code of health of the school of Salernum translated into English verse, together with the Latin text, along with a detailed introduction.

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Symonds: Wine, Women and Song

2012-02-09T23:43:00.001-05:00

Wine, Women and Song by John Addington Symonds (1899)

This is a collection of medieval Latin student songs translated into English. The Latin texts are not provided here, unfortunately - maybe if I can find time this summer I will pull together the Latin texts to go along with this lovely English translation. It contains an extensive introductory essay as well as commentary on each song. There is a useful table of songs in the back of the book which gives the references for the Latin poems along with the incipits.

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Map: Latin Poems

2012-02-08T22:32:00.000-05:00

Latin Poems, commonly attributed to Walter Mapes, ed. by Thomas Wright (1841)

Whether or not these poems are by Walter Map is uncertain, but they make good reading anyway - you will find here the Dialogus inter Aquam et Vinum, for example, the Disputatio inter Cor et Oculum, among other delights.

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Map: Nugae Curialium

2012-02-07T22:31:00.000-05:00

Nugae Curialium by Walter Map, ed. by Thomas Wright (1850)

Of the scholars of the 19th century, I sometimes think I would most enjoy a conversation with Thomas Wright! He and I certainly share the same tastes in Latin literature. This collection of anecdotes by the 12th-century author Walter Map is a delight! You can read more about him at Wikipedia.

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Cooper: Argosy of Fables

2012-02-06T23:13:00.000-05:00

An Argosy of Fables by Frederic Taber Cooper (1921)

This is an enormous and delightful book containing almost 500 pages worth of fables from all over the world. The books opens with stories from the prose Aesop, Babrius, Phaedrus, Avianus and Abstemius. The second part of the book contains Indian stories from the Hitopadesha, the Panchatantra, the Katha Sarit-Sagara, and the Jatakas, followed by Persian fables from Jami, Sadi and the Anwar-i-Suhaili. There are also Chinese, Armenian and Turkish fables. The third part of the book contains modern European fables, from England, France, Spain, Russia, Germany and Poland. The final part of the book contains African and Native American fables.

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Brown: Latin Songs

2012-02-05T23:12:00.000-05:00

Latin Songs by Calvin Smith Brown (1914)

The book contains classical, medieval and modern Latin songs, with music, too! The classical songs are poems from poets (Catullus, Horace) with musical settings. There is a large selection of medieval hymns and songs. The modern songs include "Mica, Mica, Parva Stella" and "Domine, Salvum Fac Regem."

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Burmann: Anthologia veterum latinorum epigrammatum et poematum

2012-02-04T00:01:00.000-05:00

Anthologia veterum latinorum epigrammatum et poematum by Pieter Burmann (1835)

GoogleBooks: Volume 1 - Volume 2
GoogleBookstore: Volume 1 - Volume 2

This is a two-volume edition edited and expanded by Henricus Meyerus. There are a lot of epigrams in here, along with other kinds of poetry, arranged chronologically, with abundant selections from the the Latin anthology; for specific sources, see the notes in the back. The first volume covers classical poetry while the second volume contains neo-Latin poetry. This 1773 edition has note the notes at the bottom of the page: Volume 1 - Volume 2.

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Zacher: Altfranzösische Sprichwörter

2012-02-03T19:49:00.000-05:00

Altfranzösische Sprichwörter by J. Zacher (1859)

The text begins on p. 114 and runs through p. 144 of Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur, Volume 11, with almost 300 sayings in Latin and in Old French. Delightful!

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Király: Epigrammata nova

2012-02-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

Epigrammata nova by Josef Pál Király (1843)

As the full title explains: quibus philologiae lepores, psychologiae perspicaciam, mythologiae symbola, historiae candorem carptim perlustrat Josephus Paulua de Király. For example, here's a little distich on Amicitia (2.57):

Vicerunt dirum Damon Pythiasque tyrannum,
maior amicitiae gloria morte fuit.

Stein: Anthologia epigrammatum latinorum

2012-02-02T00:01:00.001-05:00

Anthologia epigrammatum latinorum recentioris aevi by Anton Stein (1816)

The author of each epigram is indicated at the bottom of the poem, and there is also a thematic index at the back of the book, along with a list of authors and the poems that are included from each one. Owen is abundantly represented!

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Ens: Epidorpides

2012-02-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

Epidorpides I-IV by Gaspar Ens (1624)

As the title explains: In quibus multa sapienter, graviter, argute, salse, iocose, atque etiam ridicule dicta & facta continentur. The jokes and stories here come in all types and sizes, along with sayings and bon mots, like this one: Quatuor bonae matres, quatuor pessimas filias parere solent: Veritas Odium, Prosperitas Superbiam, Securitas Periculum, Familiaritas Contemptum.

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Democritus redivivus

2012-01-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

Democritus redivivus (1815)

As the title explains: seu selecta iocorum, salium atque facetiarum exempla, ad recreandum animum, vel sanandam melancholiam exhibita. There are all kinds of stories, anecdotes and bon mots here, short and long, new and old. Here's a typical example: 32. Pedes in lingua. Alphonsus Rex rogatus aliquando cur, qui podagra laborarent, essent ut plurimum loquacissimi: Nihil mirum, inquit, quoniam celeritas, quae antea in pedibus consistebat, vi morbi pulsa se recepit in linguam, ita, cum pedibus non possunt, lingua deinceps ambulant.

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Florilegium epigrammaticum recens

2012-01-30T00:01:00.001-05:00

Florilegium epigrammaticum recens (1823)

As the full title explains "Florilegium epigrammaticum recens, sive nonnullorum poetarum superioris aevi celebrium epigrammata, carmina, aliaque jocosa." Unfortunately, the book gives no indication as to the sources of the poems, but it is fun to read through nonetheless. I recognize a lot of Owen epigrams here!

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Stephanus: Comicorum Graecorum sententiae

2012-01-29T00:01:00.000-05:00

Comicorum Graecorum sententiae by Henricus Stephanus (1569)

As the full title explains: Comicorum Graecorum sententiae, id est gnomai latinis versibus ab Henr. Stephano redditae et annotationibus illustratae. Don't be put off by the first few pages of the scan; most of the book is very readable and nicely laid out, with the Greek verses, the Latin, with some brief but useful Latin annotations.

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Voigt: Florilegium Gottingense

2012-01-28T22:08:00.001-05:00

Florilegium Gottingense ed. by Ernst Voigt, in Romanische Forschungen (1887)

Voigt's edition of the delightful Florilegium Gottingense collection of proverbs begins on p. 281. It contains over 300 proverbs, along with an index of sources.

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Ottmar: Ioci ac sales mire festivi

2012-01-28T00:01:00.000-05:00

Ioci ac sales mire festivi by Ottmar Luscinius (1524)

As the title explains, these are Ioci ac sales mire festivi, ab Ottomaro Luscinio Argentino partim selecti ex bonorum utriusque linguae authorum mundo, partim longis peregrinationibus visi et auditi, ac in Centurias duas digesti. The two languages are Latin and Greek. Ottmar Luscinius (also known as Othmar or Otmar Nachtgall) was a humanist scholar, b. 1487 in Strasbourg, and d. 1537 in Freiburg.

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Andrelinus: Disticha

2012-01-27T00:01:00.000-05:00

Disticha by Publius Faustus Andrelinus (1539)

Each of the little distichs in the "hecatodistichon" is accompanied by a brief essay.

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Klauserwiz: Seria mixta iocis

2012-01-26T00:01:00.000-05:00

Seria mixta iocis by Nicolaus Klauserwiz (1737)

You will find three books of epigrams here, including a few distichs, too! The epigrams are on a variety of topics, including some religious subjects - as in this distich, for example:
O Virgo Sacrata! Iacob tu Scala vocaris,
Ad superos veram da mihi, quaeso! viam.

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Moker: Decalogus metricus et paraenetica disticha

2012-01-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

Decalogus metricus et paraenetica disticha by Anton Moker (1573)

This is wonderful collection of distichs in both Latin and in German, organizing according to the Biblical Ten Commandments. For example, on the theme of "non occides," there is this distich: Non hominem quemquam debes occidere namque / qui necat ense fero, rursus is ense perit.

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Barlandus: Iocorum Libri III

2012-01-24T00:01:00.000-05:00

Iocorum veterum ac recentium libri III by Adrianus Cornelius Barlandus (1529)

Barlandus cites the sources for his jokes, which are taken from both ancient sources and Renaissance sources, too. The third book contains epigrams from Martial, along with Barlandus's notes on the epigrams.

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Oudin: Silva distichorum moralium

2012-01-23T00:01:00.000-05:00

Silva distichorum moralium by François Oudin (1719)

The book is organized by various uplifting themes - agenda quotidie, de libris et studio, de cultu corporis et munditie, etc.

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Dornavius: Amphitheatrum Sapientiae

2012-01-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Socraticae Ioco-Seriae by Caspar Dornavius (1619)

As the full title explains: Amphitheatrum sapientiae Socraticae joco-seriae, hoc est, Encomia et commentaria autorum, qua veterum, qua recentiorum prope omnium: quibus res, aut pro vilibus vulgo aut damnosis habitae, styli patrocinio vindicantur, exornantur: opus ad mysteria naturae discenda, ad omnem amoenitatem, sapientiam, virtutem, publice privatimque utilissimum. This book is an astounding anthology, as you can see from looking at the "syllabus" of authors and natural history topics in the first volume. For Greek authors, a facing Greek-Latin text presentation is used. What a treasure trove!

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Melander: Iocorum atque seriorum centuriae

2012-01-21T00:01:00.000-05:00

Iocorum atque seriorum centuriae by Otho Melander (1643)

Here is the full title of the book: irresistible! Jocorum atque seriorum, tum novorum, tum selectorum atque memorabilium centuriae aliquot iucundae, suaves et amoenae, nec non utiles, et festivae, lectuque et maximopere dignae, nunc denuo auctae, et in hac portatili forma pro hominibus salium et facetiarum amantibus ad delectationem ipsorum ultimum editae. The selections are in both prose and poetry, and there are brief indications as to the source for each story. For example, I was delighted to find this version of the story of the astrologer, Thales, falling into a ditch, put into elegiac verse:

Ardua forte Thales caeli dum sidera lustrat,
In foveam gressu praecipitante ruit:
Hunc anus ut quaedam delapsum rustica vidit,
Quae vitreo liquidas fonte petebat aquas.
Sic super illudens cum pervenisset ad ipsum,
Alloquitur quatiens voce tremente caput,
"Astra quid inspectas caeli sublimia, Stulte,
Nec tibi quae prosint inferiora vides?
Dumque futura studes aliis praedicere fata,
Cernere quae iacent, non potes, ante pedes."

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Tünger: Facetiae

2012-01-20T00:01:00.000-05:00

Facetiae by Augustin Tünger (1874)

This book contains 54 Latin anecdotes, with German translations, along with a subject index. The original text dates to 1486; this modern edition is edited by Adelbert von Keller. You can find a digitized version at the Intratext website (via the Latin Library).

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Brusoni: Facetiae

2012-01-19T00:01:00.000-05:00

Facetiarum libri VII by Lucio D. Brusoni (1560)

This book contains excerpts from Greek and Latin sources with historical anecdotes and witty sayings. The stories and sayings are organized by topic, De Avaritia, De Amore, De Amicitia et Amicis, etc., with an alphabetical list of topics in the back. It's a treasure-trove of fun things to read! In the section on "Mala sibi apportans" I found the story of the Carpathian and the rabbit, one of my favorites! Carpathiorum in insula lepores non erant, importarunt accolae aliunde, sed tanta mox leporum multitudo excrevit, ut insulae fruges omnes sint populati.

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The Facetiae or Jocose Tales of Poggio

2012-01-18T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Facetiae or Jocose Tales of Poggio (1879) - volume 2.

The name of the translator (translators?) is not provided, alas, and I am very frustrated to not find volume 1 at Google Books. Meanwhile, the Internet Archive likewise has only volume 2 from Google Books (although it is not listed as volume 2 there; very confusing). If anyone has suggestions about where volume 1 of this book can be found online, I would be very grateful!

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Leigh: The Comic Latin Grammar

2012-01-17T00:01:00.000-05:00

The Comic Latin Grammar by Percival Leigh (1840)

As the full title explains, this is "a new and facetious introduction to the Latin tongue." This is a charming little book; to give you a sense of its style, here is how it describes the parts of speech: "The reason, says the fool in King Lear, why the seven stars are no more than seven - is a pretty reason - because they are not eigh. This is a fool's reason; but we (like many other commentators) cannot give a better one, why the Parts of Speech are no more than either - because they are not nine. They are as follows: Noun, Pronoun, Verb, Participle, declined; Adverb, Preposition, Conjunction, Interjection, undeclined. Most schoolboys would like to decline them altogether." Ha!

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Facetiae Heinrici Bebelii

2012-01-16T00:01:00.000-05:00

Facetiae Heinrici Bebelii ed. by Nicolas Bassée (1590)

The title of this book says it all: Facetiae Heinrici Bebelii, superiorum aetatum dicta iocosa & facta ridicula continentes: in libros tres digestae, una cum Prognostico perpetuo: accesserunt illustrium virorum ioci et apophthegmata ex Macrobii, Pogii, Erasmi, Camerarii & aliorum monumentis collecta; aucta quoque est haec novissima editio aliquot lepidis & iocosis, veris tamen historiis, quae lucem hactenus non viderunt; adiecto indice copiosissimo. So, in addition to Bebelius, there are some fine ioci et apophthegmata from other sources too! :-)

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Schreger: Studiosus jovialis

2012-01-15T13:26:00.002-05:00

Studiosus jovialis by Odilo Schreger (1751)

Here is the full title: Studiosus jovialis, seu Auxilia ad jocose et honeste discurrendum in gratiam et usum studiosorum iuvenum, aliorumque litteratorum virorum, honestae recreationis amantium. The variety of materials in this book is delightful indeed! The book begins with listings of Latin proverbs and sayings, with German translations. I am delighted because there are all kinds of rhyming materials here! There is also a list of famous people, with brief biographies for each, along with their mottos (Latin symbola). Next, there is a section of Latin anagrams - like corpus and porcus, ha ha. Or, on a more serious note, Ignatius de Loiola = O ignis illatus a Deo. There are some palindroms, too.

Next, there is a long listing of "problemata varia" reflecting both early modern scientific knowledge as well as classical and medieval sources (for example, in response to the question as to why women get more headaches than men (?), the answer is that it is caused by menstrual periods! ha!).

There then follows a great list of "firsts" - prima vestis, primus pastor et agricola, primus latro, etc., along with a timeline of world history. There's even a section on the first heretics, starting with the "Simoniaci" who "proveniunt a Simone Mago."

Next, there is a section of "aenigmata" (riddles) and I love the section of apophthegmata! For example, here is one about Saint Augustine: "S. Augustinus, cum male de ipso sentiret Secundinus haereticus, respondit: Senti de Augustino guod libet, dummodo conscientia me non accuset." There is also a set of international stereotypes - for example, "In Moribus: Germanus serius, Anglus suavius, Galus ostentator, Italus facetus, Hispanus gravis."

What a fun book!

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Noel: Poggii Florentini Facetiarum

2012-01-14T13:24:00.000-05:00

Poggii Florentini Facetiarum by François Noel (1798)

GoogleBooks: Volume 1 - Volume 2
GoogleBookstore: Volume 1 - Volume 2

This is a two-volume edition of Poggio's Facetiae - as the subtitle explains: Notulis imitatores indicantibus et nonnullis sive Latinis, sive Gallicis imitationibus illustratus, simul ad fidem optimarum editionum emendatus. It also includes a life of Poggio, Vita Poggii. The imitations are in both verse and prose (mostly in verse), in Latin and also in French - all kinds of delights here!

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Frischlin: Facetiae selectiores

2012-01-13T22:21:00.000-05:00

Facetiae selectiores by Nicodemus Frischlin (1603)

This book is an anthology of facetiae from Bebelius, Poggio and other sources. Here's a Renaissance scholar who's run out of money, for example: De quodam Studioso. Quidam literarum studiosus cum magnos sumptus fecisset, quorum rationem patri reddere non poterat, domum literas mittit, quibus se mortuum esse scribit, et patrem orat, ut certam sibi pecuniae summam mittat, quo honeste sepeliri possit. And here's some scatalogical humor: Crepitus ventris excusatus. Emiserat quidam ingentem ventris crepitum in densa hominum turba. Obiurgatus ob hanc rem ab amico, per Iovem, inquit, meum podex iamdudum loqui desiderat, sed nihil illi deest, praeter linguam tuam.

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Bebelius: Facetiae

2012-01-12T22:20:00.000-05:00

Facetiarum Libri Tres by Henricus Bebelius (1542)

There are all kinds of funny stories in here, ranging from very short to longer stories - here's a very short one: De Histrione. Histrio quidam cum noctu quosdam fures in domo sua depehendisset, ait ad illos: Nescio quid vos nocte hic invenire velitis, cum sereno die ego nihil invenire possim.

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Poggio Bracciolini: Facetiae

2012-01-11T20:19:00.000-05:00

Facetiarum Liber by Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (1592)

In addition to Poggio's Facetiae, it also contains a Latin translation the Greek Asinus attributed to Lucianus (Lucius); the facetiae go from pp. 1-168, and the Asinus goes from pp. 169-206. Although you can find Poggio's Facetiae online (for example, at the Latin Library), I haven't seen the Asinus digitized.

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Mirabelli: Polyanthea

2012-01-10T22:00:00.002-05:00

Polyanthea by Domenico Nani Mirabelli (1512)

There is an impressive list of authors cited at the beginning of the book (a mixture of both classical and Christian authors), along with an alphabetical table of the sayings. The Polyanthea was a very popular book and, with over 25 editions in the 16th and 17th centuries, it was a source for both Latin and Greek learning throughout Europe.

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Collins: La Fontaine and Other French Fabulists

2012-01-09T21:26:00.001-05:00

La Fontaine and Other French Fabulists by William Lucas Collins (1882)

The book contains a biography of La Fontaine along with a chapter about his fables, plus a discussion of de la Motte, Richer, Desbillons, Aubert, and Florian, among others, with selections from their fables.

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Pirckheimer: Sententiae morales (Nilus)

2012-01-08T08:10:00.001-05:00

Sententiae morales by Willibald Pirckheimer (1518)

As the title explains, these are "Sententiae morales e greco in latinum versae, Bilibaldo Pircheinero interprete." That would be Willibald Pirckheimer (1470-1530), a Renaissance humanist who lived and worked in Nuremberg, and who was a close friend of Albrecht Durer. The book provides Latin translations of the saying of the Greek bishop and martyr, Nilus of Sinai. Here is a portrait of Pirckheimer by Durer:

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Esope en trois langues

2012-01-07T19:41:00.000-05:00

Esope en trois langues, introduced by B. Morin (1816)

This wonderful book contains a collection of Aesop's fables in Greek, Latin, and French, drawing on a wide range of Aesopic authors, including Phaedrus, Faernus, Desbillons, Lebeau, La Fontaine and Richer, among other French fabulists, with an alphabetical index in the back of the book, which is almost 500 pages in length.

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Crusius: Symbolotheca docta

2012-01-06T00:09:00.000-05:00

Symbolotheca docta sive gnomae symbolicae by Theodor Crusius (1721)

The full title of the book explains: Symbolotheca docta, sive gnomae symbolicae, celeberrimorum in omnibus facultatibus eruditorum clarorumque virorum. The "symbols" or "gnomae" referred to here are what we would call mottoes; the book contains a list of famous figures, listed alphabetically, with their respective mottoes, most (but not all) of them in Latin. For example, a poet whom I like, Caspar Barthius, has as his motto: Christi beneficio. Ioachimus Camerarius, one of my favorite neo-Latin authors, has a Greek motto: Ἐφήμερος ὁ βίος, which is rendered in Latin, Vita diurna mea est.

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Chatto: Origin and History of Playing Cards

2012-01-05T21:28:00.001-05:00

Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards by William Andrew Chatto (1848)

I posted about this book at Google+ here: Google+ post.

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Witkowski: The Evil That Has Been Said of Doctors

2012-01-04T21:26:00.000-05:00

The Evil That Has Been Said of Doctors by S. J. Witkowski, translated by T.C. Minor (1889)

I posted about this book at Google+ here: Google+ post.

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Finding Google Books

2012-01-03T17:08:00.008-05:00

In response to a query yesterday from a friend of mine who was finding it a bit frustrating to look for books at Google Books, I thought I would share here some of the ways that I find books at Google Books.

1. Searching for text strings. Since I am usually collecting proverbs and fables and short poems, I find it very productive to search for text strings. To search on a string, just put quotation marks around the string. When I find an unusual proverb, for example, I search for a few words at Google Books, and often find some amazing books that also contain the proverb. Here's an example: "magna nocet, medicina docet" (the full saying: Cena brevis, vel cena levis, fit rara molesta; / Magna nocet, medicina docet, res est manifesta). When searching for text strings it is important to avoid word initial i/j and u/v ambiguities, along with other characters that are variable in Latin orthography and/or characters which cause special trouble for optical character recognition software. For example, the "ae" diphthong was often printed with æ, which the usual OCR software cannot read. So, avoid those ambiguities in your search terms.

2. Searching for title words. Although Google Books has an interface where you can do advanced searches, it's usually easier just to do this on your own. For example, to search on a word or phrase in the title of a book, just add intitle:word or intitle:"word phrase" to your search parameters. Remember that Google does not compensate for Latin morphology, so if you are looking for emblem books, you might do separate searches for the various forms of emblem you might find in a Latin book title: emblemata, emblematibus, emblematum, emblematica, emblematicis, etc.

3. Searching for author names. Just like intitle:term, you can add inauthor:name to your search. Remember that Latin authors are sometimes cataloged under their Latin name and sometimes under their name in their native language, e.g. Rollenhagen v. Rollenhagius. Also, Google Books conveniently turns the author's name in the "About This Book" page into an active link, so you can just click on the author's name in blue to get a search based on the author's name.

4. Filter your search for just free Google Books. Unless you want to torture yourself with search results that will not lead you to an actual online book (I am constantly tortured, for example, by references to Samuel Singer's Thesaurus proverbiorum medii aevi... SIGH: just $250 per volume), then you can limit your search to just free books by selecting the "Free Google eBooks" filter option in the left-hand column.

5. Save books to your Google Books Library. I'm not super-happy with how the Google Books Library Bookshelves work (I want my old tags back...) - but it is really useful to save books to one of your Google Bookshelves, any shelf at all. That way, if/when the book shows up again in your search results, you'll know that this is a book you have already saved because it will display as already being "in your library."

6. Save books to Zotero also. Since the Google Books Library Bookshelves are so frustrating to work with, I also save my Google Books to Zotero. Google Books is one of the sites that Zotero responds to really nicely, so if you install Zotero for your browser, you will see a little Zotero icon in the browser bar allowing you to save the Google Book to Zotero. Since I can update and correct the bibliographical errors in the Google Book listings (sadly, there are lots of errors), Zotero is incredibly useful for me in managing my Google Books Library.

7. Multivolume works. In my experience, the single biggest problem I have at Google Books is the way multivolume works are handled. At least in Latin, Google Books does not seem to understand multivolume works because of the way the different volumes are referred to in Latin on the title page. Here's a good trick: if you are looking for a given volume in a multivolume work, try checking the "More Editions" option - often Google Books considers those different volumes just as more editions of the same work. Not good at all, but maybe that is something that Google Books will start letting us curate in the future; all that machine intelligence could use with a good dose of human intelligence, too! :-)

Finally, the best advice I can give for enjoying Google Books is to approach it with a sense of adventure. Yes, in some ways the Latin works at Google Books really are a big mess... but a mess that is positively full of absolutely amazing delights! If anyone else is keeping track of Google Book discoveries, esp. of Latin or other Classics-related books, in the form of a blog like this one, let me know so I can add it to my blog roll.

(image source)

Democritus Ridens

2012-01-03T00:45:00.001-05:00

Democritus Ridens by Johann Peter Lange (1655)

Another great book description: Democritus ridens: sive campus recreationum honestarum cum exorcismo melancholiae. Everybody needs to exorcise their melancholy, of course! The book consists of prose anecdotes, some classical and some contemporary, some humorous and some thought-provoking, often with a bon mot of some kind for the punchline. Here's a typical one:

Solitarius. Cleanthes conspicatus quemdan ex amicis solum obambulare, et nescio quid intra se mussitare, accessit hominem, interrogavitque cum quo loqueretur? mecum, inquit alter. Tum Cleanthes: vide, ait, ne cum homine improbo loquaris.

Nugae Venales

2012-01-02T00:39:00.001-05:00

Nugae Venales (1741)

What an irresistible book description: Nugae Venales, sive Thesaurus ridendi & jocandi ad gravissimos severissimosque viros: patres melancholicorum conscriptos. Even more irresistible, the book opens with this address: Festive lector! The book was published in London in 1720, but no author is indicated. The book is full of jokes and humorous little essays along with poetry, too. There's even a portrait of Publius Porcius Poeta, the author of Pugna Porcorum!

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Graecae Sententiae

2012-01-01T15:39:00.001-05:00

Graecae Sententiae (1830)

As the title page explains, this book is "a delectus of maxims, sentiments and precepts, selected from the Greek profane writers and the New Testament; to which are added the ΧΡΥΣΑ ΕΠΗ of Pythagoras and Bion's Epitaph on Adonis, with short notes, a vocabulary and other helps calculated to facilitate the early study of Greek." The author is not identified, although the book's preface is signed "W.T."

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Stoa: Disticha in omnes fabulas Ovidii

2011-12-31T15:34:00.001-05:00

Disticha in omnes fabulas P. Ovidii Nasonis Metamorphoseon by G. F. Quintianus Stoa (1514)

This retells the stories from Ovid's Metamorphoses in the form of distichs. For example, here is the death of Pentheus:

Penthea, quid lacerat mater? lacerantque sorores;
Non aprum violant, Penthea sed feriunt.

Catonis Disticha Moralia et Lilii Monita Paedagogica

2011-12-30T19:01:00.000-05:00

Catonis Disticha Moralia et Lilii Monita Paedagogica by John Stirling (1734)

Here is a description of the book from its title page: "Cato's Moral Distichs and Lily's Paedagogical Admonitions; viz. The Words of the Author placed according to their Grammatical Construction, in the lower Part of the Page. An Alphabetical Vocabulary of all the Words, shewing their Parts of Speech, and Signification. The Themes of the Verbs with their Government. A TABLE of Scanning, containing all the possible Variations of Hexameter and Pentameter Verses, by which every Line of the Author may be Scanned. Lastly, The Rhetorical Figures are placed at the Bottom of each Page as they occur." The book was prepared for the students of St. Andrew's School in Holbourn. Price: stitched, 9 pence; bound, 1 shilling.

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La Faye: Breviarium Saeculare Universae Historiae

2011-12-29T11:51:00.000-05:00

Breviarium Saeculare Universae Historiae by Jean de La Faye (1672)

The book presents a history of world told in the form of distichs, blending Biblical and pagan legends. For example:
Liberat Aegyptum Ioseph. Iunonius Argus
Servat Io. Docuit tristis aratra Ceres.
The effect is quite weird but intriguing!

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Appendini: Disticha

2011-12-28T11:55:00.000-05:00

Disticha by Urbano Appendini (1834)

This Urbano Appendini is the brother of Francesco Maria Appendini. The book is divided into different sections: de educatione religiosa, de educatione physica, de educatione intellectuali, and de educatione sociali.

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Fabricius: Poetae Singulis Distichis Descripti

2011-12-27T11:50:00.000-05:00

Poetae Singulis Distichis Descripti by Georg Fabricius et al. (1546)

The book offers up distichs on the Greek and Roman poets and philosophers, as well as "Germani aliquot celebres." There are also distichs for each of the Muses, Greek and Roman generals - all kinds of fun stuff.

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Bachot: Fasti Christiani

2011-12-26T11:39:00.000-05:00

Fasti Christiani by Jean Bachot (1624)

As the subtitle explains, this is a "Pantheon quingentis in omnes sanctos distichis cum commentariis ornatum." The commentaries are quite long, sometimes running to a couple of pages, in addition to the distich for the saints and other religious holidays, who are arranged according to the holiday calendar.

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Nihus: Epigrammata Disticha

2011-12-25T11:53:00.000-05:00

Epigrammata Disticha by Barthold Nihus (1642)

This book contains distichs from a wide variety of Latin authors, both classical and neo-Latin. The distichs are organized into books; Book 1 contains distichs from the classical authors, Book 2 contains Italian poets, Book 3 French, Book 4 Spanish and Portuguese, Book 5 Belgian, Book 6 English and Scottish, Book 7 Polish, Book 8 Hungarian, Book 9 German, Book 10 contains others.

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Fanelli: Vagientis Pueritiae Lusus

2011-12-24T11:56:00.000-05:00

Vagientis Pueritiae Lusus by Caesar Fanelli (1685)

This collection of epigrams contains quite a few distichs, too!

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Diotallevus: Epigrammata

2011-12-23T11:57:00.000-05:00

Epigrammata edited by Vincentius Basilius Diotallevus (1846)

As the subtitle explains: Epigrammata moralia et encomiastica in usum studiosae juventutis. Diotallevus has created an anthology with epigrams from various authors; the author of each epigram is identified. This is "Liber Secundus" - I have not been able to find the first volume at GoogleBooks.

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Pignewart: Cato Bernardinus

2011-12-22T11:54:00.000-05:00

Cato Bernardinus edited by Jean Pignewart (1624)

The book contains the poetry of Bernardinus Antonius Cato Urbinas, "sententiae valde morales, piae, et sacrae, singulis distichis distinctae continentur."

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Alard: Epitome Biblica

2011-12-21T11:35:00.000-05:00

Epitome Biblica by Wilhelm Alard (1599)

In this ingenious book, each chapter of the Bible has been rendered with a single Latin distich. For example, here is Matthew, Chapter 8:
Aegrotos sanat; ventos compescit, et aequor
Christus; ab obsessis Daemonas ire iubet.

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Aegidius: Sententiae Vere Aureae

2011-12-20T09:30:00.000-05:00

Sententiae Vere Aureae by Aegidius (1534)

As the book's title explains: Sententiae vere Aureae sancti Patris Aegidii Assisinatis, omnibus ad Christianam perfectionem aspirantibus utilissimae. Aegidius (Giles) of Assisi was one of the companions of Saint Francis. You can read more about him in this Wikipedia article. His "dicta" were collected during his lifetime and issued in Latin, as well as being translated into other languages. You can find the The Golden Words of the Blessed Brother Giles (an English version published in 1907) here at GoogleBooks.

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Vaillant: Fasti Sacri

2011-12-19T11:48:00.000-05:00

Fasti Sacri by Hugo Vaillant (1674)

Vol 1: GoogleBooks - GoogleBookstore
Vol 2: GoogleBooks - GoogleBookstore

This book contains epigrams for all the days of the church calendar, divided into two books. The epigrams are not long, and a few of them are distichs!

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Gilbertus: Tetrastichorum in Fabulas Aesopicas XII

2011-12-18T11:40:00.000-05:00

Tetrastichorum in Fabulas Aesopicas XII by Christianus Gilbertus (1690)

This remarkable little book contains 12 fables of Aesop in Greek tetrastichs which are then rendered into Latin verse, with each fable told in eight different meters: iambic, scazons, trochaic, hexameters, choriambic, hendecasyllables, Sapphic, and anapests. Amazing!

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Ellis: The Fables of Avianus

2011-12-17T11:33:00.000-05:00

The Fables of Avianus edited by Robinson Ellis (1887)

This is an excellent edition of the verse fables of Avianus with a lengthy introduction and detailed notes by Robinson Ellis.

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White: Selections from Ovid's Fasti and Epistles

2011-12-16T11:29:00.000-05:00

Selections from Ovid's Fasti and Epistles by J.T. White (1884)

The selections include: Cacus ab Alcide Interfectus, Gabii Tarquinio Superbo Traditi, Gentis Fabiae Clades, Arion et Delphin, Anna Perenna, Persephone Rapta, Penelope Ulyssi, and Ariadne Theseo. There is a detailed, comprehensive Latin-English vocabulary in the back.

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Richardson: Carmina Anglica

2011-12-15T22:35:00.001-05:00

Carmina Anglica by Leon Josiah Richardson (1899)

This includes facing-text versions of English poems ("Under the greenwood tree," for example, and "Come live with me and be my love," etc.) and renderings into Latin verse. Note that the names of the English poets can be found at the END of each English poem.

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Theatrum Lyricum

2011-12-15T11:21:00.000-05:00

Theatrum Lyricum (1721)

The extravagant title page gives abundant information about the contents and purposes of this book: "quo poetarum lyricorum omnium, quotquot ab Horatio, ad haec usque tempora editi sunt, et haberi potuerunt Phrases, Loci Communes, Comparationes, Synonyma, Epitheta, Sententiae, et Elegantiae Poeticae cum summa cura et industria iuxta ordinem Alphabeticum ita exhibentur, ut quidquid in omnibus poetis lyricis hucusque dispertum fuit, hoc uno volumine totum contineatur, opus semper desideratum et in gratiam poeticae et rhetoricae amatorum, praecipue in studiosae iuventutis commodum nunc primo concinnatum et editum, cum indice copiosissimo inseruntur descriptiones sacra et profana elegantissima fere 500 accesserunt in fine in usum rhetorices studiosorum." The book comes in "tres libelli" as follows: I. Elegantias Lyricas, Acumina, et quidquid commode ad ordinem Alphabeticum reduci non potuit complectitur; II. Varium verborum et nominum usum apud poetas lyricos ostendit; III. Exhibet modum et auxilia carmen lyricum componendi. The book is enormous, well over 700 pages.

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Knatchbull: Kalila and Dimna

2011-12-14T11:20:00.000-05:00

Kalila and Dimna, The Fables of Bidpai by Wyndham Knatchbull (1819)

This is an English translation from the Arabic Kalila-wa-Dimna; for Keith-Falconer's translation from the Syriac version, see this blog post. Unlike Keith-Falconer's book, Knatchbull's book does not contain an introduction or notes.

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Flowers of Fable

2011-12-13T11:18:00.000-05:00

Flowers of Fable (1847)

The book draws on a wide range of authors: Northcote, Aesop, Croxall, Gellert, Dodsley, Gay, La Fontaine, Lessing, Krasicki, Harder, Merrick, Cowper, etc. (Of course I was especially glad to see Krasicki there, whose Polish bajki are some of my favorites!) The anthologizer's initials appear to be "C.K.F." but no full name is given. Unfortunately, no citations are given for the fables - there is no way to know which fable comes from which source; there is an alphabetical list of titles, but no source information at all. Some of the fables are in prose, and some are in verse, and quite a few of them are accompanied by illustrations. The author is very emphatic in the introduction that the fables are suitable for children and morally uplifting, without any of the repugnant scurrility that often makes its way into collections of fables! Ha!

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New Dictionary of Quotations from the Greek, Latin, and Modern Languages

2011-12-12T10:25:00.000-05:00

A New Dictionary of Quotations from the Greek, Latin, and Modern Languages (1869)

As the book's subtitle explains, the quotations are "translated into English, and occasionally accompanied with illustrations, historical poetical, and anecdotal, with an extensive index, referring to every important word." The quotations are arranged alphabetically, with the different languages mixed together. Each quotation does have an English translation, but not all of them have notes, although some of the quotations have quite extensive notes. The author's name is strangely not identified, although he said to be the author of some other books; when I checked on those books, it seems that the author for those books is likewise unknown. If anyone knows the author of this book, let me know!

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Keith-Falconer: Kalilah and Dimnah

2011-12-11T22:24:00.000-05:00

Kalilah and Dimnah, The Fables of Bidpai by I.G.N. Keith-Falconer (1885)

The stories of Kalilah and Dimnah is a version of the ancient Indian Panchatantra tradition, translated here from a Syriac version into English. There are several medieval Latin versions of these stories as well; this book provides a good introduction of this beautiful literary tradition, along with the stories - it's a useful book to consult if you are interested in perhaps reading one of the medieval Latin versions, such as the Directorium Humanae Vitae.

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Bent: Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men

2011-12-10T22:22:00.000-05:00

Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men by Samuel Arthur Bent (1887)

As the subtitle of the book explains, it comes "with historical and explanatory notes." The sayings are arranged alphabetically by the author or speaker. The historical notes are extremely interesting, giving a context for the sayings - but the sayings are all in English, without any of the original languages being cited consistently. So, the book is a great read, extremely educational - but to have the actual Latin or Greek quotes, you will have to work with another book that you can coordinate with this one.

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Cholodniak: Carmina Sepulcralia Latina

2011-12-06T11:46:00.000-05:00

Carmina Sepulcralia Latina by John Cholodniak (1897)

The book contains over 500 pages of Latin tomb inscriptions, with some useful notes on the Latin texts. Some of the inscriptions are highly fragmented, of course, but many are entirely readable. There is an index of incipits, along with cross-references to the various catalogs of Latin inscriptions.

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Harbottle: Dictionary of Quotations

2011-12-05T11:45:00.000-05:00

Dictionary of Quotations (Classical) by Thomas Harbottle (1906)

The book is organized alphabetically by the Latin quotation, followed by a section of Greek quotations; you will find proverbs here, along with some small chunks of poetry, with English translations provided for all. Citations are provided for the Latin and Greek texts, and there are also author and subject indexes.

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Foreign Phrases in Daily Use

2011-12-04T11:44:00.000-05:00

Foreign Phrases in Daily Use (1906)

This publication by Funk & Wagnalls provides "a readers' guide to popular and classic terms in the literature of seven languages with explanations of their meanings." It is organized alphbetically by the foreign phrase, so the Latin phrases are mixed in with the phrases of other languages; French and Latin are far and away the most represented.

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Tappan: Folk Stories and Fables

2011-12-03T11:42:00.000-05:00

Folk Stories and Fables by Eva March Tappan (1907)

This is part "The Children's Hour" series (volume 1 of 10 volumes). This is a delightful anthology with stories from all over the world, running to over 500 pages. It is an anthology drawing on books which are also in the public domain, so if you find a section of this book which you like, you would be able to find the book from which Ms. Tappan made her selections.

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Walsh: International Encyclopedia of Prose and Poetical Quotations

2011-12-02T11:41:00.000-05:00

International Encyclopedia of Prose and Poetical Quotations by William S. Walsh (1908)

As the subtitle of the books explains, quotations are included from many languages: English, Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, Persian, Italian, German, Chinese, Hebrew and others. At over a thousand pages long, there are indeed quite a few quotations in here. The quotations are organized alphabetically by topics with all the languages mixed together, along with various indexes, including author indexes and subject indexes. It's a fun book to browse through, and the Latin quotations do include the Latin as well as the English translation.

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Gaisford: Joannis Stobaei Florilegium

2011-12-01T11:46:00.000-05:00

Joannis Stobaei Florilegium by Thomas Gaisford (1823)

All four volumes of Gaisford's edition of Stobaeus are available at Google Books, but I have just listed volume 4 here, since that is the volume that is probably of most interest to readers at this blog. Volumes 1-3 are a critical edition of the Greek text but the fourth volume contains the Latin version of Hugo Grotius!

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Stobaeus: Loci Communes Sacri et Profani

2011-11-30T11:42:00.000-05:00

Loci Communes Sacri et Profani by Stobaeus (1581)

This huge and astounding book by Stobaeus, here in the so-called "Frankfurt" edition, has facing Greek text and Latin translation which makes it perhaps the most useful edition for readers of this blog. For a discussion of Stobaeus, an altogether mysterious figure who lived perhaps in the fifth century, see this Wikipedia article.

For the Latin-only edition of Conrad Gessner of 1551, see the Sententiae by Stobaeus.

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Merrill: Latin Hymns

2011-11-29T22:55:00.001-05:00

Latin Hymns by William A. Merrill (1904)

This is a book in The Students' Series of Latin Classics. Each hymn is accompanied by a note about the author (if known), with notes about the text of the hymn as well. There is an index of hymns and authors, but no vocabulary list.

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Scutteputaeus: Senecae Sententiae

2011-11-28T11:27:00.000-05:00

Senecae Sententiae by Hubertus Scutteputaeus (1576)

This draws on the writings of "both" Senecas - both his philosophical writing and his dramatic poetry. It also includes the apocryphal correspondence of Seneca and Paul! The excerpts from Seneca are organized by "loci communes" in alphabetical order. There is also an index in the back of the book.

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Philes: De Animalium Proprietate

2011-11-27T11:18:00.000-05:00

De Animalium Proprietate by Philes & Joachim Camerarius (1596)

Philes was a Byzantine Greek poet active in the early 14th century. This book contains the Greek iambic verses, along with a Latin version, also in iambs, describing the characteristics of the animals. Following Philes' verses, you will find an appendix by Camerarius in both Latin and Greek, expanding on Philes' project. There is an index listing the animals in the back of the book.

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Tolstoy: Fables for Children

2011-11-26T11:07:00.000-05:00

Fables for Children by Leo Tolstoy (1904)

This is Volume 12 in the Complete Works of Count Tolstoy, translated by Leo Wiener. This volume contains Fables for Children, Stories for Children, Natural Science Stories, Popular Education, The Decembrists, and Moral Tales. The fables give us a glimpse into the Aesop's fables that had a special appeal for Tolstoy!

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