it is here that he must be met. It is a simple matter to load down a book with a mass of scholarly material which few teachers and fewer pupils are able to use; it is a much more difficult one to present in correct coördination and subordination just the material which the learner will be able with profit to make his own. We must always remember that it is not what a pupil might do, but what he can and will do, which sets the limits of correct text-book making. The time of the secondary school pupil is so filled to-day that the number of hours which can be devoted to any one subject is by no means large. Under these conditions it is very easy to miss the mark, to so direct the pupil that he sees this great epic "through a glass darkly" and not "face to face." While no book can obviate the inevitable effects of poor teaching, a well-made one greatly increases the efficiency of a real teacher and frequently saves an indifferent one from disaster. To such demands and to such limitations the present volume has been rigidly subjected at every step of its preparation. While nothing has been admitted that could well be spared, on the other hand no essential has been neglected. A good book could easily be made larger, but a smaller one could not meet the demands of our best secondary schools to-day. In the process of mastering the Aeneid, the student must first grapple with the linguistic difficulties, and for secondary school purposes no edition is of much use which does not give all necessary assistance in this respect. But it is almost criminal to limit the study of so great a poem to the grammatical side. Professor Woodberry has recently stated that in his opinion "the Aeneid is the greatest single book written by man." This may be an exaggerated esti mate, but in any case the Aeneid is a literary masterpiece, one of the great "world-poems," and should be studied as such. It is because of this conviction that we have introduced much of the material to be found in this edition. Virgil's beautiful personality has been emphasized in the Introduction, and the student is encouraged to look for traces of its influence in the poem. In the Notes the æsthetic side of the poem has received more attention than is usually given to it, and it is hoped that this edition will help to foster a more general study of the poetical means employed to secure artistic effects. In four of the books will be found special notes in small type, which deal mainly with the stylistic features of important paragraphs or sections. It is not intended that these should increase, but rather that they should relieve, the burden both of student and teacher. It is recommended that they be utilized mainly in connection with review work, when a class, after mastering the primary difficulties of the text, may turn with relief to the beauties of form and substance. The teacher must use his own judgment as to the mode of handling them, and in any case they need not receive much attention until the student has acquired some facility in reading the text, and has mastered the elementary principles of Latin verse. The Aeneid occupies a peculiar position in the history of the world's best literature. Much of Homer has been absorbed by Virgil, and in his turn Virgil has exerted incalculable influence on mediæval and modern literature. A student of the Aeneid should not only have his literary taste and judgment awakened, but he should also be introduced to at least Homer, Dante, and Milton. A school library should contain not only copies of the great English poets, but also good translations of the Iliad, Odyssey, and the Divine Comedy, and from time to time a few minutes may well be spent in reading aloud passages from them bearing upon the Aeneid. Thus the Roman epic may become the means of opening the eyes of the young to great literary fields, which otherwise may remain unknown to them.1 Correspondence with a number of teachers has convinced us that a large majority of our fellow-workers will be glad to find the long vowels marked in Book I. While we believe that such marking soon becomes unnecessary for the well-taught pupil, we also agree with the majority of teachers, who desire at least one book marked thus, as an important adjunct in teaching the fundamentals of versification. The questions following the notes at the end of each book will be found to demand the exercise of many powers be 1 Translations recommended are: The Iliad of Homer: translated into blank verse, by William The Iliad done into English verse, by A. S. Way (London, The Iliad of Homer: done into English prose, by Lang, Leaf, and Myers (Macmillan). The Odyssey: done into English verse, by William Morris (London, 1887). The Odyssey of Homer: in English verse, by A. S. Way (Macmillan, 1904). The Odyssey of Homer: done into English prose, by Butcher The Divine Comedy: translated by Longfellow (Houghton, The Divine Comedy: translated in verse, by E. H. Plumptre Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso: text and prose translation (Dent & Co., Temple Classics), 3 vols. sides memory. Investigation, selection, comparison, judg. ment, all will need to be used by the student who answers them. As this feature is in line with the best standards of teachers and examiners, its value will be obvious. No edition of the Aeneid in common use contains a complete and satisfactory list of the figures of speech used in Latin poetry. Scattered in various grammars and dictionaries they may be found, but these aids are often not at hand, frequently incomplete, and so always precarious. The list included in the Introduction will, we trust, be a marked convenience. Illustrations drawn from many sources have been freely used. The coördination of art and literature and their parallel development are in harmony with the teachings of history and the most advanced pedagogy. As a vocabulary is the sheet-anchor of a beginner's Virgil, great care has been taken to make this accurate, adequate, and easy to use. It has not been made an occasion or excuse for philological display. From the immense mass of material which it might contain has been selected what we believe to be the maximum which the pupil of the secondary school will be able to utilize. The different meanings, proceeding in general from the primitive and literal to the figurative and unusual, have been carefully chosen and so grouped as to suggest in very many cases the natural development of the ideas associated with the word. Here all long vowels have been marked. In the marking of hidden quantities we have gone no farther than a decided preponderance of evidence will warrant. No text-book can properly be made the arena in which to settle philological differences. Sufficient mythological, geographical, and historical material has been included to insure an intelligent reading of the text, in case reference books on these sub jects are not available. The text has been carefully prepared, but no one authority has been uniformly followed. In the comparatively few cases of disputed readings, the evidence of the major Virgilian Mss and ancient commentators, as well as the views of modern scholars, has been carefully weighed before a decision has been reached. It would be practically impossible to enumerate the many authorities to whom an editor of Virgil is necessarily indebted. One advantage which we have had over previous editors is the use of Heinze's important work, Virgils Epische Technik, and of Norden's brilliant edition of the Sixth Book. To both of these we are under special obligation. To another recent work, Glover's Studies in Virgil, our Introduction probably owes some of its color, if not of its actual material. To the many teachers who have shown an interest in our work we express our deep appreciation. If the book itself shall meet with their approval, our "labor of love," which has been a pleasure in itself, will have been well repaid. H. R. F. JUNE, 1908. A demand for a fresh reprint gives us an opportunity to thank the many teachers in all parts of the country who. have shown their appreciation of our work. A number of errors have been rectified. For this we are especially indebted to Miss Esther Spencer, assistant in Latin in Stanford University, and Mr. J. P. Nourse, of the Lowell High School, San Francisco. JUNE, 1912. H. R. F. S. L. B. |