English: Phaedrus (15 BC-50 AD)

Phaedri, Aug. Liberti, Fabularum Aesopiarum libri V. Cum integris commentariis Marq. Gudii, Conr. Rittershusii, Nic. Rigaltii, Is. Neveleti, Nic. Heinsii, Joan. Schefferi, Jo. Lud. Praschii & excerptis aliorum. Curante Petro Burmanno. Leiden: Samuel Luchtmans and Son, 1745.

The Dutch scholar Pieter Burman (1668-1741)—in Latin Petrus Burmannus, and also known as "the Elder" to distinguish him from his nephew of the same name—first published an edition of Phaedrus' Fables in an octavo format in Amsterdam in1698. This was followed by two others in octavo and duodecimo formats published by Henricus Scheuleer in The Hague in 1718 and 1719 respectively. However, Burman's best known edition is the 1727 quarto published by Samuel Luchtmans in Leiden. It incorporated the notes by the famous English philologist Richard Bentley (1662-1742)! (Schweiger, 1834: 733-8; Dibdin, 1827: 281). Regarding the1745 octavo edition printed in Leiden, of which our Collection Highlight is a copy, Luchtmans presents it as being the third edition (Ed. tertia) coming after those of 1698 and 1718, and as being corrected (Emendatior) and augmented (aucta) by the rich index of the quarto edition of 1727. Indeed, a clever way to avoid the fact that this edition is basically a reprint of the quarto! Apart from the title page, see the publishers' preface Aequo Lectori. S.D.S. Luchtmannus.

Clearly, the book addresses not the needs of the young student learning the foundations of the Latin language, but the expectations of the future scholar interested in a deep philological examination of the text of the Fables. See, for instance, the image displayed below, where Phaedrus' verses are commented upon line by line, word by word. Even the text itself could be a challenge to young students, as Edward Harwood (1729-1794) observes in his View of the Editions of the Greek and Roman Classics (London: G. Robinson, 1782):