Showing posts with label LatinAnecdotes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LatinAnecdotes. Show all posts
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Apophthegmata Graeca
Apophthegmata Graeca (1568)
This is a collection of Greek anecdotes taken from Plutarch and from Diogenes Laertius, with Latin translations. There is an alphabetical index of names at the beginning of the book.
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Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Map: Nugae Curialium
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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Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Ens: Epidorpides
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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Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Democritus redivivus
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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Saturday, January 28, 2012
Ottmar: Ioci ac sales mire festivi
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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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Barlandus: Iocorum Libri III
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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Sunday, January 22, 2012
Dornavius: Amphitheatrum Sapientiae
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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Saturday, January 21, 2012
Melander: Iocorum atque seriorum centuriae
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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Friday, January 20, 2012
Tünger: Facetiae
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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Thursday, January 19, 2012
Brusoni: Facetiae
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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Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Facetiae or Jocose Tales of Poggio
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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Monday, January 16, 2012
Facetiae Heinrici Bebelii
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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Sunday, January 15, 2012
Schreger: Studiosus jovialis
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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Saturday, January 14, 2012
Noel: Poggii Florentini Facetiarum
Poggii Florentini Facetiarum by François Noel (1798)
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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Friday, January 13, 2012
Frischlin: Facetiae selectiores
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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Thursday, January 12, 2012
Bebelius: Facetiae
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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Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Poggio Bracciolini: Facetiae
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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Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Witkowski: The Evil That Has Been Said of Doctors
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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Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Democritus Ridens
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.
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Caussin: Polyhistor Symbolicus
Polyhistor Symbolicus by Nicolas Caussin (1634)
As the book's subtitle explains, this is a book "electorum symbolorum et parabolarum historicarum stromata, XII libris complectens." The books are organized by topics: Mundus et Elementa, Dii Gentium, Hominis Bona, Hominis Mala, Ritus Gentium, Aves, Quadrupedes, Pisces, Serpentes et Insecta, Plantae, Lapilli et Manufacta. Within each chapter, you will find a series of numbered entries, each consisting of an anecdote or observation of some kind, followed by an "apodosis," which is an interpretive commentary, explaining the significance of the symbol.
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