First printed edition vs. arbitrary ancient date

[João]

I noticed that the “original publishing date” for Aesop’s Fables is listed as -560. This is not only arbitrary, but also just an approximation, since Aesop never published a book and the fables circulated orally and in manuscripts for centuries.

For the sake of consistency, especially compared to modern works, we normally consider the date of the first printed edition as the publishing date, not the existence of earlier manuscripts. In this case, the first known printed version was Heinrich Steinhöwel’s edition in 1476, Augsburg.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to reflect this fact and adjust the “original publishing date” accordingly?

[Verónica]

For future reference, the Questions folder is for general questions, not for book edit or other requests. Moved to correct folder.