The History of the Seven Wise Masters of Rome (Classic Reprint): Printed From the Edition of Wynkyn De Worde, 1520, and Edited, With an Introduction

by George Laurence Gomme

Excerpt from The History of the Seven Wise Masters of Rome

The history of the Seven Mse Masters forms an important epoch in the history of European popular stories, because it affords the most remarkable evidence of the literary descent and origin of stories, as distinct from a traditional descent. Professor Comparetti in his Researches respecting the Boo/5 of Sindibad, published by the folk-lore Society, Mr. Clouston in his Bali/z tyar Nama and in his Book of Sindibad, two privately printed books, and Mr. Wright in his Sefvyn Sages, printed by the Percy Society in 1846, have practically exhausted the literary history of this famous collection of stories. Shortly summarised from these three sources the main facts are these. There was an ancient original Indian book of stories which became so popular that it was copied frequently, and thus handed down from one generation to another. From this book two separate groups of texts have descended. To the first belong all the texts in the Eastern languages; to the other belong the Dolo~ pathos, the Historia Septem Sapientum, the Erasto, and other numerous texts of the various European literatures of the Middle Ages. With the Eastern group of texts we have now.

206 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1520

About the author

Sir George Laurence Gomme was a British public servant and folklorist, and one of the founders of the Victoria County History and the Folklore Society.

He was married to author Alice Bertha Gomme.

Reviews

[Lulu]

1520 wynkyn de worde

(made into prose version from The Early Modern English versions of The Seven Sages which have no connection with the Middle English versions , but represent a quite distinct line of tradition. from This group also Scottish poem by John Rolland (fl. 1560))]

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