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Phædri Aug. Liberti Fabularum Æsopiarum Libri Quinque: Item Fabulæ Quædam ex ms. Veteri à Marquardo Gudio Descriptæ; cum Indice Vocum & Locutionum. Appendicis Loco Adjiciuntur Fabulæ Græcæ Quædam & Latinæ ex Variis Authoribus Collectæ; quas Claudit Avieni Æsopicarum Fabularum Liber Unicus

by Phaedrus

A Thracian slave who was freed in Rome in the household of Augustus, Gaius Julius Phaedrus (c. 15BCE – 50CE) wrote five books containing about one hundred Latin fables in the 30s CE.^[1] Though the books are incomplete, an additional thirty fables are attributed to Phaedrus, and he also included original fables in prose paraphrases completed later in his life.^[2]

Phaedrus is largely responsible for the increased use of, and respect for, the fable, which had only previously been used in adjunction to other genres. Though he was barely noticed by contemporary Roman writers, his satire of politicians, writers and other public figures led to serious criticism of his work, which were subsequently followed by his own retorts.^[3] Phaedrus noted in his third book’s prologue that fables were invented so slaves could speak what could not be said openly.^[4] As a freedman, he did not have to worry about incurring the wrath of his master, and openly advised and criticized the injustices of Roman life through both serious and satirical fables. Interestingly, Phaedrus coined the expression “adding insult to injury,” (iniuriae qui addideris contumeliam).^[5]

This work contains the extant portions of Phaedrus’ fifth book.

Phædri Aug. Liberti Fabularum Æsopiarum Libri Quinque
Title page from Phædri Aug. Liberti Fabularum Æsopiarum Libri Quinque, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.
Author	Phaedrus
Editor	Michael Maittaire
Translator	{{{trans}}}
Published	Londoni: Ex officinâ Jacobi Tonson, & Johannis Watts.
Date	1713
Edition	{{{edition}}}
Language	Latin
Volumes	{{{set}}} volume set
Pages	192
Desc.	{{{desc}}}
Location	[[Shelf {{{shelf}}}]]
	[[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as Phaedrus. 12mo. and given by Thomas Jefferson to his grandson Thomas Jefferson Randolph. The precise edition owned by Wythe is unknown. George Wythe's Library^[6] on LibraryThing indicates this without selecting a specific edition. The Brown Bibliography^[7] lists the 1713 edition published in London based on one of the copies of Phaedrus Jefferson sold to the Library of Congress.^[8] The Wolf Law Library followed Brown's suggestion and purchased the 1713 edition.

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in contemporary sprinkled calf with spine gilt. Contains signature of J. Worth. Purchased from Charles Cox Rare Books.

View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.

References

1. ↑ "Phaedrus” in The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, ed. by M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
2. ↑ " Phaedrus, Gāius Iūlius " in Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World, ed. by John Roberts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).
3. ↑ Ibid.
4. ↑ "Phaedrus”
5. ↑ Ibid.
6. ↑ LibraryThing, s. v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on November 14, 2013, http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe
7. ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433
8. ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 4:463 [no.4373].