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The Life of Æsop.
wrote in the early part of the fourteenth century. His life was prefixed to all the early editions of these fables, and was republished as late as 1727 by Archdeacon Croxall as the introduction to his edition of Æsop. This life by Planudes contains, however, so small an amount of truth, and is so full of absurd pictures of the grotesque deformity of Æsop, of wondrous apocryphal stories, of lying legends, and gross anachronisms, that it is now universally condemned as false, puerile, and unauthentic.[1] It is given up in the present day, by general consent, as unworthy of the slightest credit.
- ↑ M. Bayle thus characterises this Life of Æsop by Planudes, "Tous les habiles gens conviennent que c'est un roman, et que les absurdités grossières qui l'on y trouve le rendent indigne de toute créance."—Dictionnaire Historique. Art. Esope.
