Demosthenis et Æschinis Principum Graæciæ Oratorum Opera, cum Vtriusque Autoris Vita, et Vlpiani Commentariis

by Demosthenes and Aeschines

Demosthenis et Aeschinis Opera
Title page from Demosthenis et Aeschinis Opera, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.
Author	Demosthenes, Aeschines
Editor	Hieronymus Wolf
Translator	Hieronymus Wolf
Published	Frankfurti: Apud Claudium Marnium, & Hæredes Iohannis Aubbrii
Date	1604
Edition	2nd edition
Language	Greek, Latin
Volumes	volume set
Pages
Desc.	Folio
Location	Shelf M-5
	[[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]

Demosthenes (384 – 322 BCE) was a prominent statesman and orator in Ancient Greece. He developed his skills as an orator by studying speeches given by earlier great orators. He transferred his talents as an orator and writer into a successful professional speech-writing career. During his time as an orator, Demosthenes developed an interest in politics; he went on to devote most of his career to opposing Macedonia's expansion. He spoke out against both Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. Demosthenes played a leading role in his city's uprising against Alexander. The revolt was met with harsh reprisals and Demosthenes committed suicide to prevent being arrested. Demosthenes' oratory works were highly influential during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and inspired the authors of the Federalist Papers and the major orators of the French Revolution.

Also a statesman and orator, Aeschines (389 – 314 BCE) was a bitter political opponent of Demosthenes. He was raised in humble circumstances and worked as an actor before becoming a member of the embassies to Philip II. He eventually provoked Philip II to establish Macedonian control over central Greece. Unlike Demosthenes, Aeschines was more conciliatory to the Macedonians as they expanded. The two orators collided when Aeschines brought suit against a certain Ctesiphon, for proposing the award of a crown to Demosthenes in recognition of his services to Athens. Aeschines suffered a resounding defeat in the trial and subsequently left Athens for Rhodes where he taught rhetoric.

Portrait of the editor and translator, Hieronymus Wolf c. 1571).

In 1572, the German historian and classical scholar, Hieronymus Wolf (1516 – 1580), published a volume of Demosthenes' and Aeschines' speeches, in parallel Greek and Latin text, with commentary and ancient and modern notes. Along with his own notes, Wolf included classical commentary by Ulpian (c. 170 – 223 or 228), as well as notes on the uses of Greek by the French scholar Guillaume Budé (1467 – 1540), first published in 1529. Wolf's edition was reprinted in 1604, 1607, and 1642, and remained the most important text of Demosthenes until the 19th century.

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

In 1795, an arthritic Wythe directed a young Henry Clay to add some additional references to Greek classics in the end pages of a special few of his newly published reports, Decisions of Cases in Virginia, by the High Court of Chancery — presentation copies intended for Wythe's former students, friends, and peers at court. In 1851, Clay reflected upon this task before the publication of a new edition of the reports:

Upon [Chancellor Wythe's] dictation, I wrote, I believe, all the reports of cases which it is now proposed to re-publish. I remember that it cost me a great deal of labor, not understanding a single Greek character, to write some citations from Greek authors, which he wished inserted in copies of his reports sent to Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Samuel Adams, of Boston, and to one or two other persons. I copied them by imitating each character as I found them in the original works.

The cited authors in this added "Appendix" included Aeschylus, Demosthenes, Herodotus, Homer, Sophocles, and Thucydides. Hieronymus Wolf's collection of Demosthenes and Aeschines contains everything required for creating Wythe's selections from Demosthenes, "Against Meidias," and "Against Aphobus": it contains these specific speeches; the text is in both in both Greek and Latin; and following Wythe's selected section from "Aphobus" is written: 'On this passage is the following note:', accompanied by Guillaume Budé's commentary on the word διαιτητάς ("arbitration"), included at the end of Wolf's edition. While other titles containing selected works by Demosthenes were owned by Wythe, they either did not include the cited speeches, or were not printed in both Greek and Latin. None of the books in his library are known to include notes by Budé, and no other editions available to Wythe meet all three requirements.

While not included in Jefferson's inventory of books received from Wythe's estate in 1806, it is almost certain Wythe used a copy of Wolf's Demosthenis et Aeschines to make his "Appendix." The precise edition, is unknown, but the 1604 printing is a likely candidate. George Wythe's compatriot from Massachusetts, John Adams, had a copy of the 1604 edition in his home library.

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in contemporary vellum with a large embossed stamp and blind rules on both boards. Spine features five raised bands and handwritten "Demosthenis Aeschinis" and "Opera" labels. Purchased with the George Wythe Boswell-Caracci Room Acquisition Fund.

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

• Decisions of Cases in Virginia, by the High Court of Chancery
• Dēmosthenous Logoi Eklektoi
• Henry Clay to B. B. Minor, 3 May 1851
• Life and Public Services of Henry Clay
• Œuvres Complettes de Démosthene et d'Eschine
• Wythe's Library
• Wythe to John Adams, 5 December 1783
• Wythe to Samuel Adams, 1 August 1778

External links

• Read this book in Google Books.