Difference between revisions of "Biōnos tou Smyrnaiou, kai Moschou tou Syrakosiou, ta Sōzomena"

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|author=[[:Category:Bion of Smyrna|Bion of Smyrna]] and [[:Category:Moschus of Syracuse|Moschus of Syracuse]]
 
|author=[[:Category:Bion of Smyrna|Bion of Smyrna]] and [[:Category:Moschus of Syracuse|Moschus of Syracuse]]
 
|editor=[[:Category:Thomas Martin|Thomas Martin]]; notes by [[:Category:John Heskin|John Heskin]]
 
|editor=[[:Category:Thomas Martin|Thomas Martin]]; notes by [[:Category:John Heskin|John Heskin]]
|link=https://catalog.libraries.wm.edu:443/01COWM_WM:01COWM_WM_ALMA:01COWM_WM_ALMA21566315880003196
+
|link=https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991005744849703196
 
|trans=Adolf van Meetkercke (from Greek to Latin)
 
|trans=Adolf van Meetkercke (from Greek to Latin)
 
|publoc=[[:Category:Oxford|Oxonii]]
 
|publoc=[[:Category:Oxford|Oxonii]]
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|desc=[[:Category:Octavos|8vo]] (22 cm.)
 
|desc=[[:Category:Octavos|8vo]] (22 cm.)
 
|shelf=H-2
 
|shelf=H-2
}}[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bion_of_Smyrna Bion of Smyrna] (fl. c. 100 BC)<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica Online'', s.v. "[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/66154/Bion Bion]," accessed June 5, 2015.</ref> and Moschus of Syracuse (fl. c. 150 BC)<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica Online'', s.v. "[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/393387/Moschus Moschus]," accessed June 5, 2015.</ref> were minor Greek Bucolic, or pastoral, poets, and successors of the first Bucolic poet, Theocritus.<ref>"[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199548545.001.0001/acref-9780199548545-e-2257# pastoral poetry]," in ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'', ed. M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), accessed June 5, 2015.</ref> Little is known about either poet, and few of their works survive.
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}}[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bion_of_Smyrna Bion of Smyrna] (fl. c. 100 BC)<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica Online'', s.v. "[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/66154/Bion Bion]," accessed June 5, 2015.</ref> and Moschus of Syracuse (fl. c. 150 BC)<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica Online'', s.v. "[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/393387/Moschus Moschus]," accessed June 5, 2015.</ref> were minor Greek Bucolic (or pastoral) poets, and successors of the first Bucolic poet, Theocritus.<ref>"[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199548545.001.0001/acref-9780199548545-e-2257# pastoral poetry]," in ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'', ed. M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), accessed June 5, 2015.</ref> Little is known about either poet, and few of their works survive.
  
Most of what is known about Bion derives from the ''Lament for Bion'', an elegy written by one of his students upon his death. He was born in Smyrna, now a part of Turkey, and lived in Sicily.<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica Online'', s.v. "Bion."</ref> According to his student, he was poisoned to death.<ref>J.M. Edmonds, trans., introduction to ''[http://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL028/1912/pb_LCL028.xxiii.xmlThe Greek Bucolic Poets]'', the Loeb Classical Library 28 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1912), xxiii.</ref> Bion’s only surviving works are 17 fragments of poems from his ''Bucolica'', and the ''Lament for Adonis'', for which he is best known.<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica Online'', s.v. "Bion."</ref> Though labeled a Bucolic poet, the “pastoral element in his work is slight.”<ref>"[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199548545.001.0001/acref-9780199548545-e-0500?rskey=hOzHLR&result=2 Bion]," in ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'', ed. M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), accessed June 5, 2015.</ref>
+
Most of what is known about Bion derives from the ''Lament for Bion'', an elegy written by one of his students upon his death. Bion was born in Smyrna, now a part of Turkey, and lived in Sicily.<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica Online'', s.v. "Bion."</ref> According to his student, he was poisoned to death.<ref>J.M. Edmonds, trans., introduction to ''[http://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL028/1912/pb_LCL028.xxiii.xmlThe Greek Bucolic Poets]'', the Loeb Classical Library 28 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1912), xxiii.</ref> Bion’s only surviving works are 17 fragments of poems from his ''Bucolica'', and the ''Lament for Adonis'', for which he is best known.<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica Online'', s.v. "Bion."</ref> Though labeled a Bucolic poet, the “pastoral element in his work is slight.”<ref>"[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199548545.001.0001/acref-9780199548545-e-0500?rskey=hOzHLR&result=2 Bion]," in ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'', ed. M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), accessed June 5, 2015.</ref>
  
 
Like Bion, Moschus is considered a Bucolic poet even though most of his surviving poetry is not pastoral in nature.<ref>Edmonds, xxii.</ref> He was also a grammarian, though none of his works on grammar survive.<ref>Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, s.v. "Moschus."</ref> His extant works include five hexameter poems, an epigram on Eros as a ploughman, “a hexameter dialogue between Heracles’ wife [Megara]…and his mother Alcmena,”<ref>"[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199548545.001.0001/acref-9780199548545-e-2017?rskey=hOzHLR&result=1 Moschus]," in ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'', ed. M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), accessed June 5, 2015.</ref> and a longer poem entitled ''Love the Runaway''.<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica Online'', s.v. "Moschus."</ref> Moschus is also the likely author of the short epic ''Europa''.<ref>Ibid.</ref> Some scholars have attributed the ''Lament for Bion'' to Moschus, and consequently assumed he was a student of Bion’s and the third, rather than the second, of the Bucolic poets.<ref>M.J. Chapman, ed., [https://books.google.com/books?id=K_ohHxMXGzEC&dq ''The Greek Pastoral Poets, Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus''] (London: James Frasier, 215 Regent Street, 1836), 406.</ref> This attribution is now considered improbable.<ref>"Moschus" in ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature''.</ref>
 
Like Bion, Moschus is considered a Bucolic poet even though most of his surviving poetry is not pastoral in nature.<ref>Edmonds, xxii.</ref> He was also a grammarian, though none of his works on grammar survive.<ref>Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, s.v. "Moschus."</ref> His extant works include five hexameter poems, an epigram on Eros as a ploughman, “a hexameter dialogue between Heracles’ wife [Megara]…and his mother Alcmena,”<ref>"[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199548545.001.0001/acref-9780199548545-e-2017?rskey=hOzHLR&result=1 Moschus]," in ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'', ed. M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), accessed June 5, 2015.</ref> and a longer poem entitled ''Love the Runaway''.<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica Online'', s.v. "Moschus."</ref> Moschus is also the likely author of the short epic ''Europa''.<ref>Ibid.</ref> Some scholars have attributed the ''Lament for Bion'' to Moschus, and consequently assumed he was a student of Bion’s and the third, rather than the second, of the Bucolic poets.<ref>M.J. Chapman, ed., [https://books.google.com/books?id=K_ohHxMXGzEC&dq ''The Greek Pastoral Poets, Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus''] (London: James Frasier, 215 Regent Street, 1836), 406.</ref> This attribution is now considered improbable.<ref>"Moschus" in ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature''.</ref>
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==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
 
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as "Bion et Moschus. Gr. Lat. notis Heskin. 8vo." [[Thomas Jefferson]] kept this title and may have sold it to the Library of Congress in 1815.<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'', (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 4:473 [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015033648125;view=1up;seq=493 [no.4394]].</ref> Millicent Sowerby includes a copy of the 1748 Oxford edition of ''Biōnos tou Smyrnaiou, kai Moschou tou Syrakosiou, ta Sōzomena'' in her ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson''. Unfortunately, Jefferson's copy no longer exists to verify the edition or Wythe's prior ownership. Both [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s.v. "[http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe Member: George Wythe]," accessed on August 11, 2015.</ref> on LibraryThing and the [https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433 Brown Bibliography]<ref>Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012, rev. May, 2014) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433.</ref> list same edition. The Wolf Law Library followed the consensus and purchased a copy of the 1748 Oxford version.
+
Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as "Bion et Moschus. Gr. Lat. notis Heskin. 8vo." [[Thomas Jefferson]] kept this title and may have sold it to the Library of Congress in 1815.<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'', (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 4:473 [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015033648125;view=1up;seq=493 [no.4394]].</ref> Millicent Sowerby includes a copy of the 1748 Oxford edition of ''Biōnos tou Smyrnaiou, kai Moschou tou Syrakosiou, ta Sōzomena'' in her ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson''. Unfortunately, Jefferson's copy no longer exists to verify the edition or Wythe's prior ownership. Both [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s.v. "[http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe Member: George Wythe]," accessed on August 11, 2015.</ref> on LibraryThing and the [https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433 Brown Bibliography]<ref>Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012, rev. May, 2014) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433.</ref> list the 1748 edition. The Wolf Law Library followed the consensus and purchased a copy of the 1748 Oxford version.
  
 
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
 
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
 
Bound in contemporary speckled calf with a gilt, contrasting morocco lettering-piece. Purchased from Antiquates Ltd.
 
Bound in contemporary speckled calf with a gilt, contrasting morocco lettering-piece. Purchased from Antiquates Ltd.
  
Images of the library's copy of this book are [https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/sets/72157660762264866 available on Flickr.] View the record for this book in [https://catalog.libraries.wm.edu:443/01COWM_WM:01COWM_WM_ALMA:01COWM_WM_ALMA21566315880003196 William & Mary's online catalog.]
+
Images of the library's copy of this book are [https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/sets/72157660762264866 available on Flickr.] View the record for this book in [https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991005744849703196 William & Mary's online catalog.]
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==

Latest revision as of 15:46, 4 October 2021

by Bion of Smyrna and Moschus of Syracuse

Bionis Smyrnaei, et Moschi Syracusani, quae supersunt
BionosTouSmyrnaiou1748TitlePage.jpg

Title page from Bionis Smyrnaei, et Moschi Syracusani, quae supersunt, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.

Author Bion of Smyrna and Moschus of Syracuse
Editor Thomas Martin; notes by John Heskin
Translator Adolf van Meetkercke (from Greek to Latin)
Published Oxonii: e Typographeo Clarendoniano, prostant venales apud Johan. Barrett
Date 1748
Edition
Language Greek and Latin
Volumes volume set
Pages [9], 2-46,2-46, [3], 3-105, [1]
Desc. 8vo (22 cm.)
Location Shelf H-2
  [[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]

Bion of Smyrna (fl. c. 100 BC)[1] and Moschus of Syracuse (fl. c. 150 BC)[2] were minor Greek Bucolic (or pastoral) poets, and successors of the first Bucolic poet, Theocritus.[3] Little is known about either poet, and few of their works survive.

Most of what is known about Bion derives from the Lament for Bion, an elegy written by one of his students upon his death. Bion was born in Smyrna, now a part of Turkey, and lived in Sicily.[4] According to his student, he was poisoned to death.[5] Bion’s only surviving works are 17 fragments of poems from his Bucolica, and the Lament for Adonis, for which he is best known.[6] Though labeled a Bucolic poet, the “pastoral element in his work is slight.”[7]

Like Bion, Moschus is considered a Bucolic poet even though most of his surviving poetry is not pastoral in nature.[8] He was also a grammarian, though none of his works on grammar survive.[9] His extant works include five hexameter poems, an epigram on Eros as a ploughman, “a hexameter dialogue between Heracles’ wife [Megara]…and his mother Alcmena,”[10] and a longer poem entitled Love the Runaway.[11] Moschus is also the likely author of the short epic Europa.[12] Some scholars have attributed the Lament for Bion to Moschus, and consequently assumed he was a student of Bion’s and the third, rather than the second, of the Bucolic poets.[13] This attribution is now considered improbable.[14]

The 1748 Oxford edition of the surviving works of Bion and Moschus, edited by John Heskin, is considered a “very elegant edition.”[15] It includes a short preface and a note on the lives of Bion and Moschus, both in Latin, the poems in the original Greek with Latin translations on the facing pages, and extensive notes.

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "Bion et Moschus. Gr. Lat. notis Heskin. 8vo." Thomas Jefferson kept this title and may have sold it to the Library of Congress in 1815.[16] Millicent Sowerby includes a copy of the 1748 Oxford edition of Biōnos tou Smyrnaiou, kai Moschou tou Syrakosiou, ta Sōzomena in her Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson. Unfortunately, Jefferson's copy no longer exists to verify the edition or Wythe's prior ownership. Both George Wythe's Library[17] on LibraryThing and the Brown Bibliography[18] list the 1748 edition. The Wolf Law Library followed the consensus and purchased a copy of the 1748 Oxford version.

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in contemporary speckled calf with a gilt, contrasting morocco lettering-piece. Purchased from Antiquates Ltd.

Images of the library's copy of this book are available on Flickr. View the record for this book in William & Mary's online catalog.

See also

References

  1. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, s.v. "Bion," accessed June 5, 2015.
  2. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, s.v. "Moschus," accessed June 5, 2015.
  3. "pastoral poetry," in The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, ed. M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), accessed June 5, 2015.
  4. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, s.v. "Bion."
  5. J.M. Edmonds, trans., introduction to Greek Bucolic Poets, the Loeb Classical Library 28 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1912), xxiii.
  6. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, s.v. "Bion."
  7. "Bion," in The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, ed. M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), accessed June 5, 2015.
  8. Edmonds, xxii.
  9. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, s.v. "Moschus."
  10. "Moschus," in The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, ed. M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), accessed June 5, 2015.
  11. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, s.v. "Moschus."
  12. Ibid.
  13. M.J. Chapman, ed., The Greek Pastoral Poets, Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus (London: James Frasier, 215 Regent Street, 1836), 406.
  14. "Moschus" in The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature.
  15. Thomas Frognall Dibdin, An Introduction to the Knowledge of Rare and Valuable Editions of the Greek and Latin Classics (London: Printed for W. Dwyer, 1804), 55.
  16. E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 4:473 [no.4394].
  17. LibraryThing, s.v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on August 11, 2015.
  18. Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012, rev. May, 2014) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433.