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- Original Leaves from Famous Books
Original Leaves from Famous Books
Show moreCaption: "Aristotle, who lived in the fourth century B.C., had a profound effect on medieval thought. He became "the philosopher" and his word became to be regarded as comparable in weight to the Bible. Papal prohibitions against "reading" the treatises in the universities were disregarded and later withdrawn. Soon an intimate knowledge of Aristotelian writings frequently became the only requirement for the degree of Master of Arts. Of these works by one of the world?s greatest thinkers the Nicomachean Ethics has the greatest value to us today and is the most likely to survive. This masterpiece of Greek literature, named after the son of the philosopher to whom it was dedicated, offers logical explanation of all aspects of human behavior. In it Aristotle maintains that the chief human good and the end of life is happiness, (well being), and that this consists in virtuous activity, the highest form of which is contemplation. This manuscript page was written in Erfrut, Germany, in the year 1365 A.D., thirteen years before the great university was founded in that small city. This university of Erfrut was the first in Germany to introduce into its curriculum the study of classic literature and the humanities. The casual and natural cursive writing, done hastily, no doubt by a secular writer, is in sharp contrast to the handsome and leisurely executed book hands we usually find in the work of the monastic scribes." (Ege, Otto F.)
Original Leaves from Famous Books
Otto F. Ege Collection
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Show moreCaption: "Herodotus read his immortal History in Athens about 477 B.C. It had won such popular approval from the Athenians that two years later, by a decree, the author was awarded a literary prize of ten talents ($120,000 to $150,000). As a youth, Herodotus apparently had sufficient means to travel for almost twenty years. His insatiable curiosity led him to converse with priests, merchants, farmers in the field, and even women in their spinning wheels. His easy graceful style, together with his delightful stories, won for him the titles of "prince of story-tellers" and "the first great prose writer." The lt;i>Historylt;/i> of Herodotus deals with a Persian wars of invasion. It is divided into nine books. The first six of these are filled with the migration, commerce, arts, and religious beliefs of the Greeks. It is told as a fascinating narrative and is filed with human sympathy, so that there is, even to this day, no complaint of this method of writing, nor of the long introduction. This edition, the first printed in Greek, uses the famous Greek type of Aldus. The characters, with the numerous ligatures and contractions, were based, it is said, on the handwriting of Aldus' friend, the great scholar Musurus. This History was issued as "the book of the month" for September, 1502, by the Aldine Academy, "Neacademia." This was founded in 1500 by Aldus and his many scholar friends. Their ambition was to edit and print one classic every month, in an edition of one thousand copies. George Haven Putman states, "This list of undertakings (by the Academy) is in my judgment by far the greatest and most honorable in the whole history of publishing." (Ege, Otto F.)
Original Leaves from Famous Books
Otto F. Ege Collection
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Show moreOdyssey , a sequel, which deals with the marvelous, the romantic and the domestic, was written for women. These works were existent as early as 1000 B.C. and were handed down for several hundred years by public reciters until reduced to writing under Pisistratus (605-527 B.C.). There are many famous translation made by men who were poets in their own right; Chapman 1614, Pope 1725, Bryant 1871, Morris 1887. Prose translations are also numerous, the latest being that of the Odyssey by the famous English soldier T.E. Lawrence. He attempted to instill new vigor into the old story by a striking modernization of the language,an example of the fine art of translation". Odyssey" (Ege, Otto F.).
Original Leaves from Famous Books
Otto F. Ege Collection
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Show moreCaption: "Aeschylus, (525-456 B.C.), the first great writer of tragedies, is distinguished not only for the epic sweep of his plays, their exalted dialogue and fine characterization, but also for his daring and epoch-making innovations. Today Aeschylus would be the answer to Gordon Craig's prayer for a super-man in the theatre. Aeschylus not only was a play-wright and an actor but he also trained the choruses in their singing and dancing; added mechanical accessories; used expressive masks; added and additional actor to complement the chorus; and, most significant, his plays, for the first time, dealt with contemporary scenes. One legend tells us that once, when young Aeschylus was asleep, Dionysius appeared to him in a dream and ordered him to compose tragedies. He started to write the next morning and "succeeded very easily." He won, in all, thirteen first honors in the great contests. Another legend tells us that Aeschylus met his death when an eagle mistook his bald head for a rock and dropped a tortoise on it. The scholar-printer Adrian Turnebus, born in Normandy in 1512, had reached such proficiency in the learned languages at the early age of nine that he surpasses his preceptors. Later, many contemporary German professors, after citing him as an authority in their lectures, always touched their hats in token of respect. Montaigne was fond of interrogating Turnebus in the Boswellian manner. Turnebus at various times served as a professor of Greek and of philosophy, in addition to following the profession of "Typographus Regius." This edition of Aeschylus printed by Turnebus was particularly valued for the accuracy of the text. In it he corrected the notoriously inaccurate Aldine issue."
Original Leaves from Famous Books
Otto F. Ege Collection
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