Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/400

388 this species of poetry, in 91 chapters. 2. Jocular or satiric (trKajTTTiKa), chaps. 53. 3. Sepulchral (cTTtTu/igia), chaps. 32. 4. Inscriptions on statues of athletes and other works of art, descriptions of places, &c, chaps. 33. 5. The Ecphrasis of Christo- dorus, and epigrams on statues of charioteers in the Hippodrome at Constantinople. 6. Dedicatory (di/a0rj^aTi/fd), chaps. 27. 7. Amatory {epoTiKo). It should be observed that this division is alto- gether diiferent from the seven books of the Anthology of Agathias, with which that of Planudes has sometimes been confounded. The opinion of Reiske, that Planudes collected chiefly those an- cient epigrams which had been overlooked by Cephalas, is at once contradicted bj' a comparison of the two Anthologies, and can only have arisen from the circumstance that Reiske mistook the Leipzig copy of the Palatine Anthology for the complete work, whereas that copy only contains the epigrams which are not found in the Planudean Anthology. The true theory seems to be that of Brunck and Jacobs, namely, that Planudes did little more than abridge and re-arrange the An- thology of Constantinus Cephalas. Only a few epigrams are found in the Planudean Anthology, which are not in the Palatine. With respect to the fourth book of the Planudean, on works of art, &c., which is altogether wanting in the Palatine, it is supposed by Jacobs that the difference arises solely from the fact of our having an imperfect copy of the work of Cephalas. Jacobs has in- stituted a careful comparison between the contents of the tivo Anthologies (Proleg. pp. Ixxxiii. — Ixxxvii.), which places Brunck 's theory beyond all doubt. From the time of its first publication, at the end of the 15th century, down to the discovery of the Palatine Anthology in the 17th, the Planudean Anthology was esteemed one of the greatest trea- sures of antiquity, and was known under the name of The Greek Anthology. Planudes, however, was but ill qualified for the duties of the editor of such a work. Devoid of true poetical taste, he brought to his task the con- ceit and rashness of a mere literatus. The dis- covery of the Palatine Anthology soon taught scholars how much thej' had over-estimated the worth of the Anthology of Planudes. On com- paring the two collections, it is manifest that Planudes was not only guilty of the necessary carelessness of a mere compiler, but also of the wilful faults of a conceited monk, tampering with words, "expurgating" whole couplets and epi- grams, and interpolating his own frigid verses. He reaped the reward which often crowns the labours of bad editors who undfertake great works. The pretensions of his compilation ensured its general acceptance, and prevented, not only the execution of a better work, which in that age could scarcely be hoped for, but, what was far more important, the multiplication of copies of the more ancient Anthologies ; and thus modem scholars are reduced to one MS. of the Anthology of Cephalas, which, excellent as it is, leaves many hopeless difficulties for the critic. EDITIONS OP THE GREEK ANTHOLOGV. a. The Anthology of Maximus Planudes. 1. There are several codices of the Planudean Anthology (Fabric. Bill. Graec. vol. ii. pp. 430 — 437). The first printed edition was published about 150 years after the compilation of the work by Planudes, under the following title;— ; — then follow the epigrams : it was edited by Janus Lascaris, and printed at Florence, 1494, 4to. ; it is printed in capital letters. This Editio Princcps is by far the best of the early editions ; the errors of the press are much fewer than in the Aldine and Wechelian editions ; and the text is a faithful representation of the MS. from which it is printed. At the end of the Avork is a Greek poem by Lascaris, and a Latin letter by him to Pietro di Medici, occupying seven pages, which are wanting in several of the still existing copies of this rare work : these seven pages were reprinted by Maittaire, in his Anal. Typ. vol. i. pp. 272 — 283. 2. The first and best of the Aldine editions was printed at Venice, 1503, 8vo., under the title : Flori- legium diversorum Epigrammatum in Septem Libros — ' AvOoXoyia diacpopuv 'Y.iri'ypaixfxdrwv, and so on, nearly as in the title of Lascaris. The text is a reprint of the edition of Lascaris, but less accurate. It contains nineteen additional epigrams ; but its great value consists in an appendix of various readings from MS. codices. Reprints of this edition in 1517 and 1519 are mentioned b}'- some bibliographers, but it is very probable that the dates are erroneously given, and that the edition of 1503 is the one meant to be described. 3. The next edition was the Juntine^ 1519, under the title : Florilegiiim diversorum Epigram- matum, ^c, as in the Aldine: and at the end, Impressum Floreniiae per heredes Philippi Juntue Florentini. Anno a Virginis nuntio dccia:. supra mille. It is a mere reprint of the Aldine, with some differences of arrangement, and with more misprints. 4. Two years later, Aldus himself published a second edition : Florilegiiim, ^c. Sulerti nuper repurgatum cura. mdxxi. 8vo. The title-page goes on to state that the errors of the former edi- tion were corrected in this : but the fact is that this is a still more inaccurate reprint of the former edition, with a few variations, especially the re- ception into the text of some very bad various readings from the Appendix to the first edition. 5. The edition of Badius or the Ascejisian, Paris, 1531, 8vo., is an inaccurate reprint of the second Aldine. It is very scarce. 6. A few years later, the first attempt at a commentary on the Anthology was made by Vin- centius Opsopoeus, in his work entitled : In Grae- corum Epigrammatum Libros quatuor Annoiatio7ies longe doctissimae quam primum in lucem ediiae. Vincentio Opsopoeo Auctore. Own Indice. Basil,] 1540, 4to. Its value is very small. 7. A much better commentary accompanied the ' edition of Brodaeus: Epigrammatum Gruecorum Libri VII. annotaiionibus Jounni Brodaei Turo- nensis illustrati, quibus additus est in calce operis] rerum ao vocum eaplicatarum Index. Basil. 1549, fol. 8. A very accurate reprint of the second Aldine edition, with new Indices, appeared at Venice,] ap. Petrum et Jo. Mariam Nicolenses SahiensesA