The Age of Erasmus: Lectures Delivered in the Universities of Oxford and London — John Shaqi
The Age of Erasmus: Lectures Delivered in the Universities of Oxford and LondonAllen, P. S. (Percy Stafford)
History
The Age of Erasmus: Lectures Delivered in the Universities of Oxford and London
Allen, P. S. (Percy Stafford)
Erasmus, Desiderius, -1536; Renaissance
Beyond Huguitio we may go back to Papias, a learned Lombard (_fl._
1051), whose Vocabulary was still in use in the fifteenth century, and
was printed at Milan in 1476. The editions of it are far fewer than
those of the _Catholicon_; a fact which presumably points to the
superiority of the later work. Papias also used the alphabetical
principle; and his lengthy explanation of it, which lacks, however,
the lucidity of Balbi's, probably implies that his predecessors had
adopted the etymological arrangement by derivations, or the divisions
of Isidore according to subjects. In a few cases he makes concession
to etymology, by giving derivatives under their root, e.g. under ago
come all the words derived from it: but he has regard to the weak, and
places them also in their right alphabetical position. Not many
derivations are given; but one of them is well known. Lucus is defined
as 'locus amenus, vbi multae arbores sunt. Lucus dictus [Greek: kata
antiphrasin] quia caret luce pro nimia arborum vmbra; vel a colocando
crebris luminibus (_aliter_ uiminibus), siue a luce, quod in eo
lucebant funalia propter nemorum tenebras.' This in the hands of Balbi
becomes 'per contrarium lucus dicitur a lucendo', or, as we say
popularly, 'lucus a non lucendo.' December, again, is derived from
decem and imbres 'quibus abundare solet'; and so too the other
numbered months.
It is noticeable that Papias has some knowledge of Greek, for
derivations in Greek letters occur, e.g. 'Acrocerauni: montes propter
altitudinem & fulminum iactus dicti. Graece enim fulmen [Greek:
keraunos] ceraunos dicitur, et acra [Greek: akra] sumitas'; and a
great many Greek and Hebrew words are given transliterated into Latin,
ballein, fagein, Ennosigaeus. Like Balbi, Papias travels outside the
limits of a mere dictionary, and his interests are not restricted to
theology. Aetas draws him into an account of the various ages of the
world, regnum into a view of its kingdoms. Carmen provokes 7 columns,
31/2 folio pages, on metres; lapis 2 columns on precious stones. Italy
receives 2 columns, and 3/4 of a column are given to St. Paul.
Contrariwise there is often great brevity in his interpretations:
'Samium locus est', 'heroici antiqui', 'mederi curare'. His treatment
of miraculum is interesting; 'A miracle is to raise the dead to life;
but it is a wonder (mirabile) for a fire to be kindled in the water,
or for a man to move his ears.' The next heading is mirabilia, for
which his examples are taken from the ends of the earth. He begins:
'Listen. Among the Garamantes is a spring so cold by day that you
cannot drink it, so hot at night that you cannot put your finger into
it.' A fig-tree in Egypt, apples of Sodom, the non-deciduous trees of
an island in India--these are the other travellers' tales which serve
him for wonders.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account