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Scribes and Scholars: A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature
348 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
December 13, 2017
Bellissimo volume, per nulla noioso, con cui avevo preparato gli esami di filologia greca quando ancora studiavo Lettere classiche.
Ripercorrendo la storia del libro in generale (dai rotoli di papiro fino al formato moderno), spiega come i testi sono stati trasmessi nel corso dei secoli attraverso anzitutto l'opera insostituibile e vitale degli amanuensi e, in particolare, come in presenza di lacune da colmare ed errori, trasmessi inevitabilmente anch'essi durante le varie trascrizioni a mano prima dell'avvento della stampa, si debbano comportare i filologi: "buon senso, discernimento e gusto", tre regole semplici che, a ben vedere, possono sempre tornare utili nella vita!
Ripercorrendo la storia del libro in generale (dai rotoli di papiro fino al formato moderno), spiega come i testi sono stati trasmessi nel corso dei secoli attraverso anzitutto l'opera insostituibile e vitale degli amanuensi e, in particolare, come in presenza di lacune da colmare ed errori, trasmessi inevitabilmente anch'essi durante le varie trascrizioni a mano prima dell'avvento della stampa, si debbano comportare i filologi: "buon senso, discernimento e gusto", tre regole semplici che, a ben vedere, possono sempre tornare utili nella vita!
December 2, 2010
This is THE book to read on the problem of the transmission of antiquity -- it is written for the educated layman, yet is a book of scholarly authority. If one gets interested in the subject, the next thing is to find a copy of Lemerle's Byzantine Humanism -- published in French, but translated into (and publ. in) English by the Aussies --. The other thing to read is vol I of Pfeiffer's History of Classical Scholarship, which is a bit denser than Reynolds, however. (Vol. II was never written, and vol. III is not nearly as meaty).
December 31, 2017
Probably interesting if you're trying to research something specific, but in general I thought it was quite boring and the information felt superfluous quite often. On top of that it reads quite slowly and is quite condescending especially about the eastern part of the Greeks and Roman Empire.
January 26, 2015
This book fills an important niche for anyone interested in antiquity. How did classic Greek and Latin works survive to be available to us today? Without any fanfare or pretension, this book clearly answers the question.
Pros:
It is perhaps the only comprehensive guide to this topic.
It's clear and well organized.
The final chapter on textual criticism is illuminating, demonstrating how knowledge of the book's contents can enhance one's historical sensitivity.
Cons:
It goes out of its way to be boring and inaccessible.
It is written for classicists, despite the fact that scholars from many disciplines might be interested in the info.
- untranslated Latin passages
- unnecessary minutiae
- judgment on historical periods based on how they viewed classics (compared to how authors view classics)
Concentrates on the subtitle at the expense of the title.
Evaluation: I would say that this book is for reference only. If one is interested more in how scribes and scholars worked and how their efforts contributed to a larger domain of intellectual inquiry, I highly recommend Philology by James Turner instead.
Pros:
It is perhaps the only comprehensive guide to this topic.
It's clear and well organized.
The final chapter on textual criticism is illuminating, demonstrating how knowledge of the book's contents can enhance one's historical sensitivity.
Cons:
It goes out of its way to be boring and inaccessible.
It is written for classicists, despite the fact that scholars from many disciplines might be interested in the info.
- untranslated Latin passages
- unnecessary minutiae
- judgment on historical periods based on how they viewed classics (compared to how authors view classics)
Concentrates on the subtitle at the expense of the title.
Evaluation: I would say that this book is for reference only. If one is interested more in how scribes and scholars worked and how their efforts contributed to a larger domain of intellectual inquiry, I highly recommend Philology by James Turner instead.
April 1, 2021
A thorough examination of how classical literature was handed down through the millennia. My only complaint is that the authors assume fluency in Latin, as they write entire quotes and paragraphs in Latin with no indication of translation. Since it is indicated in the preface that this book is not just for the use of students of classics, but also for those interested in history, this seems like something of an oversight.
December 3, 2017
Reynolds & Wilson’s Scribes and Scholars was such a great read, though its true value to me will be as a reference work that I will no doubt turn to again and again. I read the 3rd edition, which a large number of reviewers said was the best in that it immensely improved upon the earlier editions and that the 4th edition didn’t add that much more to the work.
There were many things that caught my attention. One was the Egyptians “borrowing” a definitive Athenian copy of Attic tragedies for the Alexandrian library. They chose to keep it, forfeiting a deposit of 15 talents of gold (p. 7). They wanted to build up their library and figured it was worth the cost in order to obtain such a fine copy. Another uber-cool item is the value of ancient dictionaries. They are useful not just for definitions of words at the time, but also for the quotes they provide from sources that are no longer extant (p. 33). The discussion of Homer was, of course, extremely intriguing for me, such as the publication of the Venetus A marginal scholia by Jean-Baptiste Gaspard d'Ansse de Viloison in 1788 and F. A. Wolf’s Prolegomena ad Homerum in 1795, which helped start the scholarly discussion of the Homeric Question (p. 198).
Speaking of ancient works, while much was lost, it was still possible in Italy circa 500 CE to obtain copies of most Latin authors. “As late as the sixth century Johannes Lydus at Constantinople had more complete texts than we have of Seneca's Natural Questions and Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars; in Africa Fulgentius was able to cite passages of Petronius that have not come down to us; and in what is now Portugal, Martin, bishop of Braga, was able to plagiarize a lost work of Seneca that could barely have survived him” (p. 81).
When it came to Greek, much of the language was lost when the Western empire collapsed, but it continued in the East. Amazingly, Aristotle was being translated from Arabic into Latin in Spain in the 12th century (p. 120). Only after the collapse of the Eastern empire and the emigration of scholars from those lands into the West did Greek knowledge gain a foothold again. The return of Greek and textual analysis let scholars discuss and resolve various religious questions, e.g. addressing an issue with the Vulgate bible (p. 152).
There were many good sections on early and important printers and presses. I enjoyed the part on the Aldus Manitius’s Aldine press and its impact on the production and dissemination of Greek and Latin texts. It was very cool to hear that Erasmus stayed with Aldus for several months where he had access to so many Greek manuscripts. Erasmus was able to incorporate many of these into an expanded version of his Adagia (p. 159). Erasmus also helped set the established pronunciation of Classical Greek in his time (p. 159). Publishing in the Netherlands focused on two people: Christopher Plantin in the south and Louis Elzevir in the North (p. 178-179). The presses were centered in two intellectual capitals, Louvain in the south and Leiden in the north. Plantin produced many famous works, including his Polyglot Bible (1568-73) and Horace (1566). Elzevir helped further scholar studies with his small-format (duodecimo) series of classical authors that Louis’ sons put out. These small formats were affordable and portable, very useful for students.
Reynolds & Wilson highlight good Dutch scholarship, including Wilhelm Canter (p. 179), Justus Lipsius (p. 180-181), and G. J. Vossius (p. 182). The two most important editors of Latin authors in the 17th century were J. F. Gronovius for prose and Nicolaus Heinsius for poetry (p. 183). Gronovius put out very good editions of Livy, Pliny the Elder, both Senecas, Tacitus and Gellius, while Heinsius produced excellent editions of Ovid, Vergil, Valerius Flaccus, Claudia and Prudentius.
To conclude, this is a great read, but it is scholarly and dense, so it works best as a reference. I’m glad to have read it through and made some notes so that I can come back to the sections I need quickly in the future.
There were many things that caught my attention. One was the Egyptians “borrowing” a definitive Athenian copy of Attic tragedies for the Alexandrian library. They chose to keep it, forfeiting a deposit of 15 talents of gold (p. 7). They wanted to build up their library and figured it was worth the cost in order to obtain such a fine copy. Another uber-cool item is the value of ancient dictionaries. They are useful not just for definitions of words at the time, but also for the quotes they provide from sources that are no longer extant (p. 33). The discussion of Homer was, of course, extremely intriguing for me, such as the publication of the Venetus A marginal scholia by Jean-Baptiste Gaspard d'Ansse de Viloison in 1788 and F. A. Wolf’s Prolegomena ad Homerum in 1795, which helped start the scholarly discussion of the Homeric Question (p. 198).
Speaking of ancient works, while much was lost, it was still possible in Italy circa 500 CE to obtain copies of most Latin authors. “As late as the sixth century Johannes Lydus at Constantinople had more complete texts than we have of Seneca's Natural Questions and Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars; in Africa Fulgentius was able to cite passages of Petronius that have not come down to us; and in what is now Portugal, Martin, bishop of Braga, was able to plagiarize a lost work of Seneca that could barely have survived him” (p. 81).
When it came to Greek, much of the language was lost when the Western empire collapsed, but it continued in the East. Amazingly, Aristotle was being translated from Arabic into Latin in Spain in the 12th century (p. 120). Only after the collapse of the Eastern empire and the emigration of scholars from those lands into the West did Greek knowledge gain a foothold again. The return of Greek and textual analysis let scholars discuss and resolve various religious questions, e.g. addressing an issue with the Vulgate bible (p. 152).
There were many good sections on early and important printers and presses. I enjoyed the part on the Aldus Manitius’s Aldine press and its impact on the production and dissemination of Greek and Latin texts. It was very cool to hear that Erasmus stayed with Aldus for several months where he had access to so many Greek manuscripts. Erasmus was able to incorporate many of these into an expanded version of his Adagia (p. 159). Erasmus also helped set the established pronunciation of Classical Greek in his time (p. 159). Publishing in the Netherlands focused on two people: Christopher Plantin in the south and Louis Elzevir in the North (p. 178-179). The presses were centered in two intellectual capitals, Louvain in the south and Leiden in the north. Plantin produced many famous works, including his Polyglot Bible (1568-73) and Horace (1566). Elzevir helped further scholar studies with his small-format (duodecimo) series of classical authors that Louis’ sons put out. These small formats were affordable and portable, very useful for students.
Reynolds & Wilson highlight good Dutch scholarship, including Wilhelm Canter (p. 179), Justus Lipsius (p. 180-181), and G. J. Vossius (p. 182). The two most important editors of Latin authors in the 17th century were J. F. Gronovius for prose and Nicolaus Heinsius for poetry (p. 183). Gronovius put out very good editions of Livy, Pliny the Elder, both Senecas, Tacitus and Gellius, while Heinsius produced excellent editions of Ovid, Vergil, Valerius Flaccus, Claudia and Prudentius.
To conclude, this is a great read, but it is scholarly and dense, so it works best as a reference. I’m glad to have read it through and made some notes so that I can come back to the sections I need quickly in the future.
March 6, 2024
I found the book to be moderately interesting. Since I took a long time to read it, I do not recall every chapter's ideas. However, it offered a survey of classical writing throughout the ages, which I found intriguing. It explored how these works were interpreted, preserved, but also compromised related to the comunities in wich they were.
The first chapter was exceptional as it explained the appearence of the written book, how papyrus was made, and why ancient readers preferred to quote rather than cite. It detailed the complexities of reading papyrus and how it was unfold and how dangerous it was. The chapters on Christianity and its connection with pagan culture and philosophy were also excellent. They explained why the Church used an allegorical method of interpretation for a long period of time. This was based on some theologians emphasis on reconciling Plato's philosophy with Christian writing.
I believe the book was well-balanced, and the authors were not biased in their approach. It also provided a useful bibliography for each topic. However, it is worth noting that the book is outdated, and so is its bibliography.
October 13, 2016
This book was written for students and scholars, the writing is dense. It requires a slow reading but, if you are interested in the subject, is well worth it. Who knew there were small centers of learning in the dark ages that would be supported by enlightened rulers or clergy. Then they would disappear but the books copied survived until the monasteries copied them. Many books come down in only one manuscript. I thought the whole thing fascinating.
October 25, 2021
I first read Scribes and Scholars, then in its second edition, as a first-year graduate student in 1979. The fourth edition does not really add much beyond an updated bibliography, but it is still the best account of the transmission of the Greek and Latin classics. It may sound dry, but is really quite lively and readable.
Read
September 24, 2015This is a gripping guide to the transmission of texts from Greco-Roman antiquity, the development of classical scholarship, and the principles of textual criticism, all rolled into one.
November 20, 2022
I've often wanted to know how Roman texts have survived history and the dark ages in order to make it into our hands some 2000 years later. You often hear stories about texts being discovered in monasteries and references to lettered manuscripts of the text, but I didn't have access to that world until I read this book. It's probably not for the casual reader, but it's fascinating for the classicist.
For a short book, it covers a lot of ground. The last chapter is a abbreviated explanation of textual criticism: the mistakes common to scribes (remember, these books were hand written for 1500+ years), and the technical process for deciding how to emend a text. The student reading a classical text is probably thinking it's an authoritative copy. I know I did. But many words and potentially even passages are in dispute and we don't learn that because our copies aren't usually annotated in the margins with scholia describing alternative words/text.
The main bulk of the book covers the history of the written book, it's writing materials and fonts, and the traditions that kept manuscripts alive and handed them down to us, as well as the history of textual criticism. I was surprised by how much specific information was cited about different Latin authors works and where our modern copies have come from. Where did we get our copies of Tacitus from? It's in the book.
Philology is an entire science of it's own. We take a lot for granted in the modern world.
For a short book, it covers a lot of ground. The last chapter is a abbreviated explanation of textual criticism: the mistakes common to scribes (remember, these books were hand written for 1500+ years), and the technical process for deciding how to emend a text. The student reading a classical text is probably thinking it's an authoritative copy. I know I did. But many words and potentially even passages are in dispute and we don't learn that because our copies aren't usually annotated in the margins with scholia describing alternative words/text.
The main bulk of the book covers the history of the written book, it's writing materials and fonts, and the traditions that kept manuscripts alive and handed them down to us, as well as the history of textual criticism. I was surprised by how much specific information was cited about different Latin authors works and where our modern copies have come from. Where did we get our copies of Tacitus from? It's in the book.
Philology is an entire science of it's own. We take a lot for granted in the modern world.
February 21, 2024
A good introduction into the study of the transmission of the Greek and Latin literature.
The book tackles various subjects essential to the better understanding of the environment in which texts were transmitted over the course of history, such as the use of papyrus and parchment for copying texts, description the condition in which manuscripts were copied (frequently by a scribe in a scriptorium), types of corruption and mistakes when copying a text, etc.
In some instances, the book in question can be dry as dust and difficult to digest, perhaps the most demanding section of the book being the treatment of textual critism.
Overall, it is a decent book for students studying the Classics and for those who wish to have a vaster knowledge of the history of transmission of Greek and Latin texts.
The book tackles various subjects essential to the better understanding of the environment in which texts were transmitted over the course of history, such as the use of papyrus and parchment for copying texts, description the condition in which manuscripts were copied (frequently by a scribe in a scriptorium), types of corruption and mistakes when copying a text, etc.
In some instances, the book in question can be dry as dust and difficult to digest, perhaps the most demanding section of the book being the treatment of textual critism.
Overall, it is a decent book for students studying the Classics and for those who wish to have a vaster knowledge of the history of transmission of Greek and Latin texts.
May 14, 2019
Мне кажется, я не обладаю достаточным запасом знаний, чтобы оценить эту книгу по достоинству. С одной стороны, это довольно краткий обзор, больше похожий на учебное пособие, с другой требует знакомства с античными авторами и их произведениями.
В любом случае, кое-что интересное я узнала, авторам удалось мне объяснить, какое это чудо, что хоть некоторые тексты добрались до нашего времени, все было не зря :)
В любом случае, кое-что интересное я узнала, авторам удалось мне объяснить, какое это чудо, что хоть некоторые тексты добрались до нашего времени, все было не зря :)
December 11, 2022
Very good. The first five chapters deal with the history of the tranmission of classical texts. First chapter on the transmission on texts within antiquity especially strong. Penultimiate chaper on post-Renassaince on slightly weak and only covers history up to the eighteenth century. The last chapter gives a clear guide to how scholars recover the originial meaning of a text from corrupted manuscripts.
April 21, 2025
Imprescindible para cualquier persona interesada en los estudios clásicos, y su tradición y transmisión textual (principalmente manuscrita). Este riguroso tratado nos conduce a través de la historia de la supervivencia (y ocaso) de la antigüedad clásica, gracias al esforzado trabajo de copistas, eruditos renacentistas o aquellos sabios que pusieron las bases para que surgiera la Filología como ciencia con sus métodos críticos.
September 16, 2019
This is a marvelous book that discusses the transfer of ancient writings through the medieval period and on down to us. It especially shows how close-run a thing it was that may have only saved 1 in ten works. The authors give a firm insight into the works, process, and events that have shaped them. Unfortunately, for unilingual people like me, they do not translate their Latin examples.
August 19, 2021
Classicone per quanto riguarda la filologia, pongo quattro stelle per il semplice fatto che l’impostazione di ogni nuovo filologo sia randomica e messa poco in evidenza rispetto alla restante parte del testo. Ciò non facilita molto lo studio.
December 8, 2021
A fascinating glimpse into how classical texts have survived and the considerable challenges faced in working out which ones are most authentic or true to the original through the use of textual criticism
November 27, 2024
Honestly, it was the worst work that I have ever read in my entire life. I can't take it. Every single word of this book is for me a suffering to read, I hate it. I didn't learn anything new. This is only a vomit of useless information.
September 12, 2019
Super helpful book on paleography and all it entails!
January 21, 2021
A wonderful account of the methods behind the transmission and survival of ancient texts from generation to generation. Fascinating read.
January 13, 2023
An excellent, clear presentation of the actual life and preservation of the literature of of its developing philology over the centuries.
February 21, 2024
很優秀的作品，簡潔有力的介紹了書籍的發展，歐洲怎麼把古典知識代代傳承到現代，還有學者們又是如何考據校勘，以保證文本不訛誤失真。譯者的國文底子深厚，文內常有許多濃濃古風的筆法，使人翻閱時輕鬆自在。想要進一步研究的可以參看後面的注文，附上了許多深入了作品，非常實用！本書應該大力的推廣，以避免被某些學術義和團魚目混珠，混淆視聽！
February 1, 2015
Along with music for string quartet and the mathematics of random variables, the transmission and recension of classical texts are of sublime interest to me. Unfortunately, like Peter Cook's would-be judge, I never had the Latin. Thus, this witty, intelligent, sophisticated, and fascinating book will have to do. And it does.
June 25, 2012
Studiato all'università, ma è una lettura anche per i non addetti ai lavori, per chi è curioso di sapere come si sono conservati i libri nell'antichità, perché certi libri sono arrivati fino a noi e altri sono andati inesorabilmente perduti.
June 17, 2008
FASCINATING! I promise.
July 16, 2015
erudito, conciso y claro. valioso el capítulo final introductorio a los problemas de crítica textual y los apparati critici
April 30, 2017
I had to read this as part of my postgrad but it wasn't a chore. A great book that leads you through the history of literature.
Read
November 22, 2017The image of a monastery full of monks doggedly ruining their eyes preserving ancient manuscripts is a powerful one. The reality was more than that, more nuanced one could say, and this book paints a fuller image of many copiers copying NOT for the sake of preservation itself, but often because the ancient works' excellence presented an offer that couldn't be refused even by narrow-minded christians. But the image is not full enough to my satisfaction.
Reynolds & Wilson assure me that no works were ever destroyed by christians. Since Wikipedia triple-references its claim that Porphyry's Adversus Christianos was successfully ordered destroyed, the absence in this book of any mention of that issue detracts slightly from its seriousness.
What they write about Aristotle looks to be literally true (unless I'm squinting incorrectly), yet it hides the facts as reported by Bernard G. Dod's 'Aristoteles latinus' in The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy. The discovery of Aristotle in Toledan libraries after their takeover from the Arabs in 1085 did reignite an interest in his work, but Dod documents that, due to the inferiority of Latin translations of Arabic translations of Syriac translations of the Greek, most of the medieval Aristotelean manuscripts were translated to Latin directly from Greek manuscripts fetched from the Byzantine empire. We in fact owe far less to Arabs than may be supposed.
Being merely a layperson lacking adequate knowledge, I have to refrain from assigning the three stars that are all I feel inclined to. It is a worthwhile read, providing much useful information, and this book could well be close to the best it is possible to do, which would render my dissatisfaction with it largely irrelevant.
(It would probably require a different kind of book, but I would have liked to have seen a list of known writers with a transmission/loss history for their individual works.)
Reynolds & Wilson assure me that no works were ever destroyed by christians. Since Wikipedia triple-references its claim that Porphyry's Adversus Christianos was successfully ordered destroyed, the absence in this book of any mention of that issue detracts slightly from its seriousness.
What they write about Aristotle looks to be literally true (unless I'm squinting incorrectly), yet it hides the facts as reported by Bernard G. Dod's 'Aristoteles latinus' in The Cambridge History of Later Medieval Philosophy. The discovery of Aristotle in Toledan libraries after their takeover from the Arabs in 1085 did reignite an interest in his work, but Dod documents that, due to the inferiority of Latin translations of Arabic translations of Syriac translations of the Greek, most of the medieval Aristotelean manuscripts were translated to Latin directly from Greek manuscripts fetched from the Byzantine empire. We in fact owe far less to Arabs than may be supposed.
Being merely a layperson lacking adequate knowledge, I have to refrain from assigning the three stars that are all I feel inclined to. It is a worthwhile read, providing much useful information, and this book could well be close to the best it is possible to do, which would render my dissatisfaction with it largely irrelevant.
(It would probably require a different kind of book, but I would have liked to have seen a list of known writers with a transmission/loss history for their individual works.)
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews