PREFACE THE principal object of this edition of Lucretius is to bring into compact form the results of critical work on the poem since Munro's posthumous edition of 1886, and also to indicate the sources of criticism prior to 1886 that were either disregarded by, or unknown to, that great scholar. There have been five great modern Lucretians - Lambin, Lachmann, Munro, Brieger, and Giussani. To them every editor of the poem must confess an indebtedness, as great almost as Lucretius owed to Epicurus. It is difficult to say to which one of them this edition owes most: whether to Munro, usually the first guide in point of time to an English or American student; to Lambin, so copious in illustration; to Lachmann, acute in textual criticism; to Brieger, learned and courageous; or to the subtle Giussani. Yet it is hoped that there may be found in this book some things of value that are not due altogether to its predecessors. Lachmann has given once for all, at least until the Leyden facsimiles become available, a complete recension of the two great manuscripts; and, consequently, in this edition obvious corrections of the manuscript readings are not recorded but an effort has been made to indicate all important variations, especially where there has been difference of opinion among scholars. The editor has not departed from the reading of the archetype except where it has seemed to him necessary; and the varied signs by which other editors have signified incoherence of the argument, and the transposition of paragraphs and the like, have all been omitted from this text as properly belonging to the commentary. The sources of the Introduction are, it is hoped, sufficiently indicated in the footnotes thereto. To the general editors of the series, Professors Morris and Morgan, the editor is grateful for helpful criticism; and to the American Book Company special thanks are due for undertaking the publication of a book of such a character as the present edition. BERKELEY, October, 1906. 1 |