Catullus: A Textual Reappraisal (review)

The modern Catullan apparatus criticus is a daunting testament to the editorial problems posed by the unfortunate state of the manuscript tradition and the long history of textual scholarship aimed at its emendation. In Catullus: A Textual Reappraisal, Trappes-Lomax pares that tradition down to its archetype and then applies a bold set of editorial principles to the re-evaluation of its emendation. His reappraisal does not take the form of a new edition per se, but rather of a textual companion to Mynors’ OCT edition. Basing his arguments on the qualitative examination of the text of the archetype and its previous emendations, his goal is to propose improvements to the OCT. This approach has a reinvigorating effect upon Mynors’ excellent and venerable text, as it collates and incorporates relevant scholarship published since Mynors’ edition, and permits a more transparent and more detailed examination than the apparatus criticus alone allows.

One of the frequent drawbacks of the modern apparatus criticus is its submersion of the occasional attractive reading in a requisite sea of ugly manuscript variants and “also-ran” emendations, setting the reader the task of fishing out the odd intriguing textual insight. This is especially true where stemmatic reconstruction indicates a bipartite tradition. This is further exacerbated in the case of Catullus, as the bipartite tradition in question can only produce the horribly corrupt text of the now lost “Verona codex” (V). Trappes-Lomax’s ground-up re-evaluation does not muddy the waters with the insignificant readings and also disentangles the history of editorial emendations, while simultaneously attempting a deconstructive analysis of the corruptions present in V.

The Introduction (1–32) establishes the need for such a reappraisal and lays out the principles followed in its execution. Trappes-Lomax proceeds from the admirably bold assertion that since Catullus was a meticulous and skilled poet, when it comes to accepting variants and proposed emendations, the only criterion of merit is the quality of the final product: si melius est, Catullianum est (1). This criterion is a clear expression of the qualitative judgement required of the textual critic, especially of a corrupt tradition. It is, of course, open to the usual attack of being too dependent on the editor’s whims, and Trappes-Lomax has bravely offered himself up as a larger-than-usual target here. His unyielding single criterion presumes that there is only one perfect way of writing poetry (“if poetry is the best words in the best order, there will be only one correct way of using them,” 2), and that his own idea of poetic perfection was also Catullus’. The Introduction concludes with a very helpful “schedule of suggestions” which indicates all 535 places where Trappes-Lomax believes that Mynors’ text can be improved, placing Mynors’ reading alongside the “preferred reading” and valiantly attempting to credit each emendation to its rightful originator. Each of these propositions is then examined in detail in the text to follow.

Each passage under consideration is first printed as it appears in Mynors’ OCT. Trappes-Lomax then lays out his reappraisal of the text, taking into consideration significant variants and emendations and reviewing recent scholarship. Each section concludes by reprinting the text as suggested by the reappraisal. The clear and orderly process lacks one feature which would have made matters slightly more convenient for the reader: the apparatus criticus of the OCT. Given the frequency with which the reappraisal discusses manuscript readings, it would have been beneficial to have an apparatus on the page as a reference. Without it, the reader may suffer the admittedly minor inconvenience of shuttling back and forth between Trappes-Lomax’s commentary and Mynors’ apparatus.

Trappes-Lomax’s insistence upon Catullus’ infallible (dare one say “Classical”?) perfection is at the root of many of his arguments. However, in the rigorous application of his largely aesthetic principles of reappraisal, which are founded upon his own understanding of poetic excellence, Trappes-Lomax imposes upon Catullus’ text an aesthetic of perfection which is not always...