Surgere equum, rudibusque notis expressa videbis At Musarum augustæ sedes, sacrataque tecta Tempora, et innumeros complectitur una nepotes. COLL. TRIN. VOL. XXXIX. CI. JI. NO. LXXVII. L 162 NOTICE OF PLATONIS, et quæ vel Platonis esse feruntur vel Platonica solent comitari, SCRIPTA GRÆCE OMNIA, ad Codices Manuscriptos recensuit, Variasque inde Lectiones diligenter enotavit, IMMANUEL BEKKER. Annotationibus integris Stephani, Heindorfii, Heusdii, Wyttenbachii, Lindavii, Boeckhiique, adjiciuntur modo non integra Serrani, Cornarii, Thompsoni, Fischeri, Gottleberi, Asti, Butmanni, et Stalbaumi, necnon et Commentariis aliorum curiose excerpta. 11 vols. 71. 14s. small paper, and 11. 11s. large. London. Excudebat A. J. Valpy, A.M. sumtibus R. PRIESTLEY. 1826. AMONGST the numerous and useful publications undertaken by the enterprising spirit of Mr. R. Priestley, this edition of Plato may be fairly said to hold the first place. We are not ignorant that such an assertion will appear to some as the ne plus ultra of puffing. But he, who deems it (and what honest man does not?) a base dereliction of a moral duty to speak aught but the truth, will at all times and in all places disdain to withhold his opinion in deference to those little men of still less minds, who cannot hear praise freely and fully given to A, without the fear of giving offence to the feelings of B; and still less will he be disposed to yield to the prejudices of others, who can give the best reasons for the faith that is in him. Of these all-sufficient reasons, some have reference to the plan of the undertaking, and some to the execution. As far as regards the plan, to Mr. Priestley be all the honor given for the idea of presenting at one view and in the same page the most approved text, the fullest body of various readings, together with the most ample collection of Latin commentaries either intire or extracted, and of inriching the whole with the Greek Scholia, the Lexicon of Timæus, the Latin Translation of Ficinus; all preceded by Fischer's elaborate Prolegomena, containing the Life of the Philosopher, and a Literary History of his works whether extant or lost, together with a Bibliographical Notice of Mss. Edi 'From the value not undeservedly set on the Notitia Literaria of the Bipontine editors, we are sorry that no advantage has been taken in the present edition to incorporate that Notitia with Fischer's less perfect account. tions and Translations; and thus forming the most desirable edition, that has yet appeared, of the remains of the mighty, magnificent, and immortal philosopher of Athens. With regard to the manner, in which the plan of the projector has been put into execution, we will let the Editor' speak for himself by giving his preface intire; from which it will be seen that although not a little has been done and well, more might have been done and better, in the way rather of abridgment than amplification: so true is the sentiment of Hesiod, "Few know how much the half exceeds the whole." In hac Editione quid præstitutum fuerit, paucis, Lector, accipe. Commoditatibus legentium unice consulitur. Igitur Textus,_quod aiunt, et Annotationes ita comparantur, ut nihil fere, quod ad Platonica quivis intelligenda desideret, deesse videatur. Etenim Platonis ipsius verba recensio, quam Immanuel Bekker ope Codicum Manuscriptorum numero circiter octoginta fecit, hic repetita exhibet, emendatis subinde paucis iisdemque levioribus maculis, quas Editoris modo non oculatissimi incuria prætermisit. Deinde Commentarii, partim integri partim compendiose facti adjiciuntur, quibus et æris et temporis dispendium, utcunque immensum, postulantibus, carere tamen studiosus ægre tulerit. Verum ne cui mole Annotationum onerari potius quam ornari Platonica viderentur, lege severa cautum fuit: ideoque e præstantioribus duntaxat Commentarii repetuntur integri; e reliquis vero seliguntur ea, quæ Platonica quodammodo decere, neque scriptores ipsos dedecere potuerint. In hac tamen parte non minimum fuisse laborem exantlandum quivis tuto colligere potest, catalogo librorum perlecto, unde sunt Annotationes decerptæ : SERRAN. ) ΠΛΑΤΩΝΟΣ ΑΠΑΝΤΑ ΤΑ ΣΩΖΟΜΕΝΑ. Platonis Opera quæ exSTEPH. stant omnia. Ex nova Joannis Serrani Interpretatione, perpetuis ejusdem notis illustrata. Henr. Stephani de quorundam locorum interpretatione judicium, et multorum contextus Græci emendatio. 1578, fol. CORNAR.-Jani Cornarii Ecloga in Dialogos Platonis omnes, nunc primum separatim editæ, cura Joh. Frider. Fischeri. Lips. 1771, 8vo. THOMPSON.—ΠΑΡΜΕΝΙΔΗΣ, Η ΠΕΡΙ ΙΔΕΩΝ. Parmenides, sive de Ideis et Uno Rerum Principio. Platonis Dialogus. Oxon. 1728, 8vo. FORSTER.-Platonis Dialogi quinque, Erastæ, Euthyphro, Apologia Socratis, Crito, Phædo. Oxon. 1745, 1752, 1765, 8vo. ETWALL. Platonis Dialogi III. quibus præfiguntur Olympiodori Vita Platonis et Albini in Dialogos Platonis Introductio. Oxon. 1771, 8vo. FISCHER. 1. Platonis Euthyphro, Apologia Socratis, Crito, Phædo. Græce. Lips. 1758, 1779, 1783, 8vo. The individual to whose care this edition was intrusted is, we understand, George Burges; a scholar, whose claims to the consideration of the learned were, as far as Plato is concerned, duly appreciated by the late and lamented Professor of Greek in the University of Cambridge, Peter Paul Dobree, who was accustomed to speak of this edition in the most flattering terms. FISCHER.-2. Platonis Cratylus et Theætetus. Lips. 1779, 8vo.. 3. 4. Sophista, Politicus, Parmenides. Lips. 1779, 8vo. 5. Eschinis Socratici Dialogi tres. Græce. Lips. 1786, 8vo. GOTTLEBER.-1. Animadversiones ad Platonis Phædonem et Alcibiadem Secundum. Lips. 1771, 8vo. 2. Platonis Menexenus. Lips. 1782, 8vo. MUELLER. Platonis Ion. Hamburg. 1782, 12mo. ROUTH.-Platonis Euthydemus et Gorgias. Oxon. 1784, 8vo. BIESTER. Platonis Dialogi IV. Meno, Crito, Alcibiades uterque. Berolini, RAABE, Specimen interpretandi Platonis Dialogi, qui Crito inscribitur. Lips. 1791, 4to. NURNBERGER.-Platonis Alcibiades Primus et Secundus. Lips. 1796, 8vo. HEINDORF. 1. Platonis Lysis, Charmides, Hippias Major, Phædrus. Berolini, 2. 3. 4. 5. 1802, 8vo. Gorgias et Theætetus. 1805, 8vo. Gorgias, Apologia Socratis, Hippias Major, Charmides. Cratylus, Parmenides, et Euthydemus. 1806, 8vo. HEUSDE.-Specimen Criticum in Platonem. Lugd. Bat. 1803, 8vo. 2. Simonis Socratici Dialogi. Heidelb. 1810, 8vo. WYTTENBACH.-Platonis Phædon. Lugd. Bat. 1810, 8vo. AST.-1. Platonis Symposium et Alcibiades I. Landishut. 1809, 8vo. 2. 3. 4. Phædrus. Adjiciuntur Hermiæ Scholia nunc primum edita. Politia. Accedunt Additamenta ad Commentarium in Phæ- Leges et Epinomis. Lips. 1814, 8vo. FAEHSE.-Sylloge Lectionum Græcarum. Lips. 1813, 8vo. LINDAU. Novum in Platonis Timæum et Critiam Conjecturarum atque Emendationum Specimen. Vratislaviæ ad Viadrum, 1815, 8vo. BECK.-Platonis Opera. Lips. 1816, 12mo. STUTZMANN. Plato de Philosophia, vel Dialogus, qui inscribitur EPAXTAI. Erlang. 1818, 8vo. STALBAUM.-1. Platonis Philebus. Accesserunt Olympiodori Scholia nunc primum edita. Lips. 1820, 8vo. Euthyphro. Lips. 1823, 12mo. 2. LANGE. Specimen Criticum in Platonis Critonem. Lips. 1821, 8vo. BUTMANN. Platonis Dialogi IV. Meno, Crito, Alcibiades uterque. Berolin. 1822, 8vo. DINDORF. Platonis Convivium. Lips. 1823, 8vo. GROEN-VAN-PRINSTERER.-Prosopographia Platonica. Lugd. Bat. 1823, 8vo. LOERS.-Platonis Menexenus. Colon. ad Rhen. 1824, 12mo. LOEWE. Platonis Crito, Græce, cum commentario perpetuo et pleno, in usum Juventutis Scholasticæ. Lips. 1825. Harum Editionum Annotationumque merita singulatim expendere neque temporis est hujus neque loci. Unum id dicere sufficit, quod e messe tam larga Commentariorum ne levissimum quidem spicilegium Editoribus relinquitur futuris, nisi quibus volupe fuerit, Herculei sane laboris opus, materiam corradere, ad Glossarium Platonicum conficiendum; quibus profecto subsidium haud exiguum daturi sunt Indices, tam Vocabulorum quam Dictionum, quos Forster, Etwall, Fischer, Findeisen, Butmann, Heindorf et Stalbaum struxerunt: quo quidem ornamento hæc Editio minime fuisset expers, si quis repertus esset ad munus illud obeundum par. Verum enimvero ætas Διδύμων τῶν χαλκενTépwv jamjam præterlapsa est, heu! non reditura. Præfatiunculam prius claudere nefas est, quam lector fuerit enixe rogatus, æquo animo tam commissa quam omissa ferre, si forte offenderit vel in voces aut nullo aut prave picto accentus signo notatas, vel in nomen Fischeri loco Forsteri aut versa vice suffectum, vel in alia cujuscunque generis peccata, quæ diligens lectio perspecta corriget, vel indiligens haud perspecta parum est curatura. From the mere perusal of this list of commentators some idea may be formed of the pains which have been taken to render this edition valuable to the general reader; while to the more inquisitive scholar, who would otherwise be compelled to wade through volume after volume of endless annotations, it will be gratifying to learn that, in the Phædo for instance, the notes, which in other editions occupy upwards of 1000 octavo pages, are here compressed, without a single omission of importance, into a third of that space, and this too including the text and the body of various readings, which the industry of Immanuel Bekker has collected from nearly every Ms. at present in existence. As this publication professes to contain nothing original from the pen of the Editor himself, it is unnecessary to enter on a critical examination of the text and notes: on both of which much might be said, and especially in the way of admonition, to those who wish to know what Plato really wrote, to consult the various readings of the Ms. marked v. which, though one of the most modern, being said to be written in the 16th century, frequently alone preserves the very words of the author. Something might also be said of the intrinsic value of the Aldine, the second Basle, and H. Stephens' editions, and of the contemptible Bipont, which was once dignified by bibliographers with the title of ed. opt.: and not a little might be 1 A complaint has been made by some continental critics of the inaccuracy of Bekker's collation. But without entering on the justice of the accusation, it is sufficient to reply, that if the charge be true to its fullest extent, still enough and more than enough has been done by Bekker to demand and obtain the heartfelt thanks of every admirer of Plato. |