Nox Philologiae: Aulus Gellius and the Fantasy of the Roman Library

Editor's Preface

Now that the first printing of this volume has long since become generally unavailable and is only to be found with some difficulty on the dustiest shelves of select antiquarian bookshops, the hour has perhaps arrived to make the Nox Philologiae broadly accessible once again for the benefit of contemporary readers. At a minimum, the history of classical scholarship is a vital element of the discipline of classics itself.And in that spirit I might justly offer this text to the public. It is my hope, though, that there is nevertheless more on offer in the Nox than just the fodder for some incidental footnotes in books yet to come. I would wish that readers might find something to amuse and even to edify in this strange little book of yesteryear. “Nothing odd will do long,” said Dr. Johnson. And yet my memories of reading this are lasting. I like to imagine that others as well will derive from it pleasures that are, if not even greater, at least as enduring. Praefatio Editoris ix ...