History of Classical Scholarship

Leandro Polverini (1935–2023)

2023-06-18T06:12:41+00:00

Leandro Polverini passed away in Rome on 18 April 2023; he was born in Castelnuovo dei Sabbioni (Arezzo) in 1935.

Leandro Polverini’s body of work has been an inspiration to many; without the example he set, we doubt whether our idea of a journal entirely devoted to the history of classical scholarship would have quite materialised in the way it did. HCS loses an unfailingly supportive member of its Editorial Board, who followed the development of the journal with the insight, attention, and warmth that those who had the good fortune of working with him know well. We remember him with gratitude, and we shall miss him deeply.

“Un gran volume di forse 50 trattati di Galeno”: una lettera di Filippo Niccolozzi, i Giunti e il miraggio delle biblioteche orientali

2023-09-27T12:22:48+00:00

“Un gran volume di forse 50 trattati di Galeno”: una lettera di Filippo Niccolozzi, i Giunti e il miraggio delle biblioteche orientali

Dopo un’introduzione sulla rivalità che, nel corso del Cinquecento, contrappose a Venezia gli editori Giunti e Valgrisio, entrambi impegnati a stampare gli Opera omnia di Galeno, si trascrivono ampie parti di una lettera finora misconosciuta, conservata presso l’Archivio di Stato di Firenze. Si tratta di una missiva risalente all’aprile 1565 del medico Filippo Niccolozzi, nipote di Tommaso e Giovanni Maria Giunti, indirizzata a Firenze al maggiordomo granducale Luigi Gherardi da Borgo San Sepolcro. Niccolozzi, oltre a fornire informazioni sugli zii e a menzionare i medici umanisti Jacopo Antonio Mariscotti e Agostino Gadaldini, parla di un enigmatico monaco greco di nome “Theoglipto” che avrebbe ottenuto cinquecento scudi d’oro per recarsi “in Grecia” a recuperare un favoloso codice galenico contenente, tra l’altro, il perduto De demonstratione, intorno al quale in quegli anni è documentabile un notevole interesse. Con ogni probabilità si trattò di una truffa o di un abbaglio, da inquadrare però nel particolare clima di competizione editoriale, nonché di spregiudicata ricerca e “creazione” di inediti galenici, attestato all’epoca a Venezia e alimentato dal perdurante mito delle favolose biblioteche bizantine e postbizantine.

“Un gran volume di forse 50 trattati di Galeno”: A Letter by Filippo Niccolozzi, the Giunti and the Mirage of Oriental Libraries

After an introduction on the rivalry that pitted against each other the publishers Giunti and Valgrisio, both engaged in printing Galen’s Opera omnia in Venice during the sixteenth century, large portions of a hitherto unnoticed letter preserved in the State Archives of Florence are transcribed. It is a missive dated April 1565 from physician Filippo Niccolozzi, nephew of Tommaso and Giovanni Maria Giunti, addressed from Venice to the Grand Ducal chamberlain Luigi Gherardi in Florence. Niccolozzi, in addition to providing information about his uncles, and mentioning the humanist physicians Jacopo Antonio Mariscotti and Agostino Gadaldini, speaks of an enigmatic Greek monk named “Theoglipto”, who allegedly obtained five hundred gold scudi to travel “to Greece” to retrieve a fabulous Galen codex containing, among other things, the lost De demonstratione, around which considerable interest can be documented in those very years. In all likelihood, this was a swindle or a blunder, to be framed, however, in the particular climate of publishing competition, and also of reckless research and “creation” of unpublished galenic manuscripts, attested at the time in Venice, and fueled by the enduring myth of fabulous Byzantine and post-Byzantine libraries.

«Atene risorta […] sulle rive dell’Arno». Giuseppe Cammelli tra scuola e filologia

2023-08-28T18:03:33+00:00

“Atene risorta […] sulle rive dell’Arno”. Giuseppe Cammelli tra scuola e filologia

Il saggio esamina la figura del professore e bizantinista italiano Giuseppe Cammelli (1890–1977), docente nei licei fiorentini e incaricato all’Università di Pisa (1937–1943). Insegnante appassionato, Cammelli può a buon diritto essere annoverato, seppur in una posizione non di primissimo rilievo, fra gli studiosi che hanno contribuito, nella prima metà del XX secolo, a riportare alla luce in Italia la letteratura e la storia bizantine. Uomo dai vastissimi interessi di studio, Cammelli vanta una bibliografia molto ampia fra articoli, contributi specialistici, monografie e produzione manualistica dedicata alla scuola. In particolare, alcuni suoi lavori a destinazione didattica hanno conosciuto una fortuna considerevole. La ricerca intende valutare il grado di penetrazione del lavoro di Cammelli nel panorama accademico e scolastico nazionale e internazionale. Il lavoro è stato condotto mediante la consultazione di fonti bibliografiche ed epistolari. Si propone anche una bibliografia essenziale, concepita come una silloge delle opere più significative dell’autore.

“Atene risorta […] sulle rive dell’Arno”. Giuseppe Cammelli between School and Philology

This paper outlines an academic portrait of Giuseppe Cammelli (1890–1977), an Italian scholar and Byzantinist. He worked as a high school teacher in Florence and as a professor at the University of Pisa (1937–1943). Albeit in a not primary position, Cammelli deserves being regarded as one of the scholars who contributed to a new appreciation of Byzantine literature and history in Italy during the first half of the twentieth century. His research interests were extremely wide-ranging, as well as his scholarly output, which includes books, papers, and publications for schools. In particular, his didactic production was considerably successful. This study aims at evaluating the dissemination of Cammelli’s work in the academic and educational landscapes, in Italy and abroad. The article engages with Cammelli’s private papers as well as his published works. An essential bibliography is also provided.

La Musa in mezzo al fango: Il Marziale di Concetto Marchesi

2023-09-05T13:56:58+00:00

La Musa in mezzo al fango: Il Marziale di Concetto Marchesi

Si approfondisce il rapporto del latinista Concetto Marchesi con uno degli autori da lui più letti e apprezzati: l’epigrammista Marco Valerio Marziale. L’analisi si concentra, in primo luogo, su contenuto e organizzazione del Profilo del poeta latino, edito da Formiggini nel 1914, con particolare attenzione alle modifiche che Marchesi apportò in vista della riedizione del ’34. La seconda parte del contributo è dedicata alla prefazione prodotta da Marchesi per la sua selezione di epigrammi tradotti per la collana «I classici del ridere» (Roma 1920).

The Muse amidst the mud. Concetto Marchesi’s Marziale

This paper explores the relationship between Concetto Marchesi and one of the Latin authors he read and loved the most: the epigrammatist Martial. The focus of the first part is on the content and the organization of his Profilo, published with Formiggini in 1914, with special emphasis on the changes made by Marchesi in view of its 1934 re-edition. The second part of the contribution is devoted to the preface that Marchesi wrote for his selection of translated epigrams published in the «I Classici del ridere» series (Rome 1920).

A New Renaissance? Classics at Corpus Christi in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

2023-09-05T11:54:26+00:00

The history of Classics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, is followed from its renaissance foundation (1517) to a new scholarly renaissance in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. Three Fellows are identified whose work embodied a change from the use of Latin to the introduction of English: Thomas Cokayne, Basil Kennett, and Thomas Burgess. The 1850 Royal Commission led to significant changes in the status and organisation of Oxford colleges; these are related to changes in secondary schooling. The career of Arthur Sidgwick is taken as an illuminating case. The history of classical Chairs is considered, in particular the Corpus Chair of Latin first occupied by John Conington and later by Robinson Ellis, Henry Nettleship, and Eduard Fraenkel. The varieties of scholarship in the late 19^th and 20^th centuries are compared.

Maasiana Bernensia (I): Sul Dyskolos di Menandro

2023-10-17T13:32:00+00:00

Maasiana Bernensia (I): Sul Dyskolos di Menandro

Un’edizione delle note e congetture di Paul Maas al Dyskolos di Menandro, accompagnata da una contestualizzazione degli estratti delle sue lettere al collega e amico Willy Theiler (1958–1959) sulla storia editoriale del testo.

Maasiana Bernensia (I): On Menander’s Dyskolos

An edition of Paul Maas’s thoughts and conjectures on Menander’s Dyskolos, along with a contextualisation of relevant extracts from his letters to his colleague and friend Willy Theiler (1958–1959) about the editorial history of that text.

„Exhibet anonymus in schedis“. Kolorierte Zeichnungen Pompejianischer Inschriften im Archiv des CIL

2023-11-26T14:56:20+00:00

„Exhibet anonymus in schedis“. Kolorierte Zeichnungen Pompejianischer Inschriften im Archiv des CIL

Im Archiv der Arbeitsstelle des Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum CIL wurden im Jahr 2022 vier Blätter mit kolorierten Zeichnungen von 32 Wandaufschriften aus Pompeji aufgefunden. Die Wiedergabe der Inschriften scheint sehr eng an den antiken Originalen orientiert. Es handelt sich um Zeichnungen eines Anonymus, die Karl Zangemeister, dem verantwortlichen Editor des 1871 erschienenen Bandes zu den inscriptiones parietariae Pompeianae in CIL IV zwar vorlagen und von ihm partiell für die Edition herangezogen wurden, bis heute aber völlig unbekannt geblieben sind. Mit ihrer quellenkritischen Vorlage gewinnt man erstmals eine Vorstellung von der Gestaltung der betreffenden Inschriften, die zumeist vollständig verloren sind. Zudem erlauben sie eine Revision bisheriger Lesungen und Interpretationen. Der Vergleich der Blätter mit Zangemeisters Edition der betreffenden Inschriften illustriert beispielhaft das Entstehen einer CIL-Edition im 19. Jahrhundert. Schließlich geben die Blätter mit der Reihenfolge der darauf erfassten Wandaufschriften einen Eindruck, wie sich der Anonymus durch die Ausgrabungen von Pompeji bewegte und vom Ablauf seiner Dokumentation.

”Exhibet anonymus in schedis”. Colour Drawings of Pompeian Inscriptions in the CIL Archive

In the archives of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL), four sheets with colored drawings of 32 wall inscriptions from Pompeii were found in 2022. The reproduction of the inscriptions seems to be very close to the ancient originals. They are drawings by an anonymous artist, which were available to Karl Zangemeister, the responsible editor of the volume on inscriptiones parietariae Pompeianae in CIL IV, published in 1871. They were partially used for the edition, but have remained completely unknown until today. With the source-critical presentation carried out here, one gains for the first time an idea of the design of the inscriptions in question, most of which are completely lost. In addition, they allow a revision of their previous reading and understanding. The comparison of the sheets with Zangemeister’s edition of the inscriptions in question exemplifies the creation of a CIL edition in the 19th century. Finally, the sheets with the sequence of the recorded wall inscriptions convey an impression of how the anonymous author moved through the excavations of Pompeii and of the body of evidence they worked on.