In this Book
- Nox Philologiae: Aulus Gellius and the Fantasy of the Roman Library
- Book
- 2009
- Published by: University of Wisconsin Press
summary
In this strikingly original and playful work, Erik Gunderson examines questions of reading the past—an enterprise extending from antiquity to the present day. This esoteric and original study focuses on the equally singular work of Aulus Gellius—a Roman author and grammarian (ca. 120-180 A.D.), possibly of African origin. Gellius’s only work, the twenty-volume Noctes Atticae,is an exploding, sometimes seemingly random text-cum-diary in which Gellius jotted down everything of interest he heard in conversation or read in contemporary books. Comprising notes on Roman and classical grammar, geometry, philosophy, and history, it is a one-work overview of Latin scholarship, thought, and intellectual culture, a combination condensed library and cabinet of curiosities.
Gunderson tackles Gellius with exuberance, placing him in the larger culture of antiquarian literature. Purposely echoing Gellius’s own swooping word-play and digressions, he explores the techniques by which knowledge was produced and consumed in Gellius’s day, as well as in our own time. The resulting book is as much pure creative fun as it is a major work of scholarship informed by the theories of Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, and Jacques Derrida.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Editor's Title Page
- p. vii
- Editor's Preface
- p. ix
- The Third Preface: Gellius's Preface
- pp. 18-44
- Table of Contents
- pp. 45-51
- Volume One
- Book One: Authority
- pp. 55-98
- Book Two: Logic
- pp. 99-131
- Book Three: Usage
- pp. 132-165
- Book Four: Index of Names
- pp. 166-201
- Book Five: Index of Things
- pp. 202-221
- Volume Two
- Book Six: Books of Books
- pp. 225-251
- Book Seven: Authors of the Author
- pp. 252-286
- Appendix: It Was to Be/It Is to Be
- pp. 288-298
- Unplaced Fragments
- pp. 299-304
- Spurious Fragments
- pp. 305-306
Additional Information
ISBN
9780299229733
Related ISBN(s)
9780299229702
MARC Record
OCLC
669519778
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No