It seems to me that Philip Thibodeau makes a good point: "what is the process by which words and phrases go from one text to the other? Are the different writers working from memory, or are they writing with a codex open before them? For if someone is working from memory, then the evidence from their citations is likely to be contaminated by misrememberings - at least, just enough to make the reconstruction of the text they knew rather profitless."
Nevertheless, I agree with David W-O that to use the Loeb edition's text in an investigation of Dante's use of Virgil is a very strange procedure. My own experience relates to a 1604 text, translation and commentary on Aeneid 6. By compiling a list of 100 variants from the MS, which I compared with printed editions of the 16th cent., I was able to establish that my author used at least three different editions. (And no doubt he sometimes relied on his memory as well.) To examine these editions, or other contemporary authorities such as Cooper's Thesaurus or Charles Estienne's Dictionarium, I needed to go to a library and use either the microform room or the rare book room or a modern facsimile reprint. To frame a useful working hypothesis on any point (to be checked later in the library), I would consult my own copies of Lempriere's dictionary or a 1727 printing of the Ruaeus edition, which I had picked up very cheaply in a second-hand bookshop in York. Their suggestions would usually be confirmed in the 16th cent. sources. I'd have thought that some similar procedure might serve for Dante. Might not an early printed text be found that more nearly represents the customary readings of Dante's time than the Loeb edition? And if the early printed text were also widely available in a facsimile reprint, so much the better. >From Simon Cauchi, Freelance Editor and Indexer 13 Riverview Terrace, Hamilton, New Zealand Telephone and facsimile (+64) 7-854-9229, e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
