corrupted by transcribers, and varied essentially from each other. Varro,
in his book _De Analogiâ_, ascribes some phrase of which he did not
approve, in the _Truculentus_, to the negligence of copyists. The Latin
comedies, written in the age of Plautus, were designed to be represented
on the stage, and not to be read at home. It is therefore, probable, that,
during the reign of the Republic at least, there were few copies of
Plautus’s plays, except those delivered to the actors. The dramas were
generally purchased by the Ædiles, for the purpose of amusing the people
during the celebration of certain festivals. As soon as the poet’s
agreement was concluded with the Ædile, he lost his right of property in
the play, and frequently all concern in its success. It seems probable,
therefore, that even during the life of the author, these magistrates, or
censors employed by them, altered the verses at their own discretion, or
sent the comedy for alteration to the author: But there is no doubt that,
after his death, the actors changed and modelled the piece according to
their own fancy, or the prevailing taste of the public, just as Cibber and
Garrick wrought on the plays of Shakspeare. Hence new prologues, adapted
to circumstances, were prefixed—whole verses were suppressed, and lines
properly belonging to one play, were often transferred to another. This
corruption of MSS. is sufficiently evinced by the circumstance, that the
most ancient grammarians frequently cite verses as from a play of Plautus,
which can now no longer be found in the drama quoted. Thus, a line cited
by Festus and Servius, from the _Miles_, does not appear in any MSS. or
ancient edition of that comedy, though, in the more recent impressions, it
has been inserted in what was judged to be its proper place(574),
Farther—Plautus, and indeed the old Latin writers in general, were much
corrupted by transcribers in the middle ages, who were not fully
acquainted with the variations which had taken place in the language, and
to whom the Latin of the age of Constantine was more familiar than that of
the Scipios. They were often puzzled and confused by finding a letter, as
c, for example, introduced into a word which they had been accustomed to
spell with a g, and they not unfrequently were totally ignorant of the
import or signification of ancient words. In a fragment of Turpilius, a
character in one of the comedies says, “Qui mea verba venatur pestis
arcedat;” now, the transcriber being ignorant of the verb _arcedat_, wrote
_ars cedat_, which converts the passage into nonsense(575).
The comedies of Plautus are frequently cited by writers of the fourteenth
century, particularly by Petrarch, who mentions the amusement which he had
derived from the _Casina_(576). Previous, however, to the time of Poggio,
only eight of them were known, and we consequently find that the old MSS.
of the fourteenth century just contain eight comedies(577). By means,
however, of Nicolas of Treves, whom Poggio had employed to search the
monasteries of Germany, twelve more were discovered. The plays thus
brought to light were the _Bacchides_, _Menæchmi_, _Mostellaria_, _Miles
Gloriosus_, _Mercator_, _Pseudolus_, _Pœnulus_, _Persa_, _Rudens_,
_Stichus_, _Trinummus_, _Truculentus_. As soon as Poggio heard of this
valuable and important discovery, he urged the Cardinal Ursini to despatch
a special messenger, in order to convey the treasure in safety to Rome.
His instances, however, were not attended to, and the MSS. of the comedies
did not arrive till two years afterwards, in the year 1428, under the
charge of Nicolas of Treves himself(578). They were seized by the Cardinal
immediately after they had been brought to Italy. This proceeding Poggio
highly resented; and having in vain solicited their restoration, he
accused Ursini of attempting to make it be believed that Plautus had been
recovered by his exertions, and at his own expense(579). At length, by the
intervention of Lorenzo, the brother of Cosmo de Medici, the Cardinal was
persuaded to intrust the precious volume to Niccolo Niccoli, who got it
carefully transcribed. Niccolo, however, detained it at Florence long
after the copy from it had been made; and we find his friend Ambrosio of
Camaldoli using the most earnest entreaties on the part of the Cardinal
for its restitution.—“Cardinalis Ursinus Plautum suum recipere cupit. Non
video quam ob causam, Plautum illi restituere non debeas, quem olim
transcripsisti. Oro, ut amicissimo homini geratur mos(580).” The original
MS. was at length restored to the Cardinal, after whose death it fell into
the possession of Lorenzo de Medici, and thus came to form a part of the
Medicean library. The copy taken by Niccolo Niccoli was transferred, on
his decease, along with his other books, to the convent of St Mark.
From a transcript of this copy, which contained the twelve newly-recovered
plays, and from MSS. of the other eight comedies, which were more common
and current, Georgius Merula, the disciple of Filelfo, and one of the
greatest Latin scholars of the age, formed the first edition of the plays
of Plautus, which was printed by J. de Colonia and Vindelin de Spira, at
Venice, 1472, folio, and reprinted in 1482 at Trevisa. It would appear
that Merula had not enjoyed direct access to the original MS. brought from
Germany, or to the copy deposited in the Marcian library; for he says, in
his dedication to the Bishop of Pavia, “that there was but one MS. of
Plautus, from which, as an archetype, all the copies which could be
procured were derived; and if, by any means,” he continues, “I could have
laid my hands on it, the _Bacchides_, _Mostellaria_, _Menæchmi_, _Miles_,
and _Mercator_, might have been rendered more correct; for the copies of
these comedies, taken from the original MS., had been much corrupted in
successive transcriptions; but the copies I have procured of the last
seven comedies have not been so much tampered with by the critics, and
therefore will be found more accurate.” Merula then compares his toil, in
amending the corrupt text, to the labours of Hercules. His edition has
usually been accounted the _editio princeps_ of Plautus; but I think it is
clear, that at least eight of the comedies had been printed previously:
Harles informs us, that Morelli, in one of his letters, had thus written
to him:—“There is an edition of Plautus which I think equally ancient with
the Venetian one of 1472; it is _sine ullâ notâ_, and has neither
numerals, signatures, nor catch-words. It contains the following plays:
_Amphitryo_, _Asinaria_, _Aulularia_, _Captivi_, _Curculio_, _Casina_,
_Cistellaria_, _Epidicus_(581).” Now, it will be remarked, that these were
the eight comedies current in Italy before the important discovery of the
remaining twelve, made by Nicholas of Treves, in Germany; and the
presumption is, that they were printed previous to the date of the edition
of Merula, because by that time the newly-recovered comedies having got
into circulation, it is not likely that any editor would have given to the
world an imperfect edition of only eight comedies, when the whole dramas
were accessible, and had excited so much interest in the mind of the
public.
Eusebius Scutarius, a scholar of Merula, took charge of an edition, which
was amended from that of his master, and was printed in 1490, Milan,
folio, and reprinted at Venice 1495.
In 1499, an edition was brought out at Venice, by the united labour of
Petrus Valla, and Bernard Saracenus. To these, succeeded the edition of
Jo. Bapt. Pius, at Milan, 1500, with a preface by Phillip Beroald. Taubman
says, that “omnes editiones mangonum manus esse passas ex quo Saracenus et
Pius regnum et tyrannidem in literis habuere.” In the Strasburg
impression, 1508, the text of Scutari has been followed, and about the
same time there were several reprints of the editions of Valla and Pius.
The edition of Charpentier, in 1513, was prepared from a collation of
different editions, as the editor had no MSS.; but the editions of Pius
and Saracenus were chiefly employed. Charpentier has prefixed arguments,
and has divided the lines better than any of his predecessors; and he has
also arranged the scenes, particularly those of the _Mostellaria_, to
greater advantage.
Few Latin classics have been more corrupted than Plautus, by those who
wished to amend his text. In all the editions which had hitherto appeared,
the perversions were chiefly occasioned by the anxiety of the editors to
bend his lines to the supposed laws of metre. Nic. Angelius, who
superintended an edition printed by the Giunta at Florence, 1514, was the
first who observed that the corruptions had arisen from a desire “ad
implendos pedum numeros.” He accordingly threw out, in his edition, all
the words which had been unauthorizedly inserted to fill up the verses.
From some MSS. which had not hitherto been consulted, he added several
prologues to the plays; and also the commencement of the first act of the
_Bacchides_, which Lascaris, in one of his letters to Cardinal Bembo, says
he had himself found at Messina, in Sicily. These, however, though they
have been inserted into all subsequent editions of Plautus, are evidently
written by a more modern hand than that of Plautus. Two editions were
superintended and printed by the Manutii, 1516 and 1522; that in 1522,
though prepared by F. Asulanus, from a MS. corrected in the hand of the
elder Aldus and Erasmus, is not highly valued(582). Two editions, by R.
Stephens, 1529 and 1530, were formed on the edition of the Giunta, with
the correction of a few errors. These were followed by many editions in
Italy, France, and Germany, some of which were merely reimpressions, but
others were accompanied with new and learned commentaries.
To no one, however, has Plautus been so much indebted as to Camerarius,
whose zeal and diligence were such, that there was scarcely a verse of
Plautus which did not receive from him some emendation. In 1535, there had
appeared at Magdeburg six comedies (_Aulularia_, _Captivi_, _Miles
Gloriosus_, _Menæchmi_, _Mostellaria_, _Trinummus_,) which he had revised
and commented on, but which were published from his MS. without his
knowledge or authority. The privilege of the first complete edition
printed under his own direction, is dated in 1538.
The text and annotations of Camerarius now served as the basis for most of
the subsequent editions. The Plantin editions, of which Sambucus was the
editor, and which were printed at Antwerp 1566, and Basil 1568, contain
the notes and corrections of Camerarius, with about 300 verses more than
any preceding impression.
Lambinus, in preparing the Paris edition, 1577, collated a number of MSS.
and amassed many passages from the ancient grammarians. He only lived,
however, to complete thirteen of the comedies; but his colleague, Helias,
put the finishing hand to the work, and added an index, after which it
came forth with a prefatory dedication by Lambinus’s son. On this edition,
(in which great critical learning and sagacity, especially in the
discovery of _double entendres_, were exhibited,) the subsequent
impressions, Leyden, 1581(583), Geneva, 1581, and Paris 1587, were chiefly
formed.
Lambinus, in preparing his edition, had chiefly trusted to his own
ingenuity and learning. Taubman, the next editor of Plautus of any note,
compiled the commentaries of others. The text of Camerarius was
principally employed by him, but he collated it with two MSS. in the
Palatine library, which had once belonged to Camerarius; and he received
the valuable assistance of Gruterus, who was at that time keeper of the
library at Heidelberg. Newly-discovered fragments—the various opinions of
ancient and modern writers concerning Plautus—a copious _index verborum_—a
preface—a dedication to the triumvirs of literature of the day, Joseph
Scaliger, Justus Lipsius, and Casaubon—in short, every species of literary
apparatus accompanied the edition of Taubman, which first appeared at
Frankfort in 1605. It was very inaccurately printed, however; so
incorrectly indeed, that the editor, in a letter addressed to Jungerman,
in September 1606, acknowledges that he was ashamed of it. Philip Pareus,
who had long been pursuing similar studies with those of Taubman, embraced
the opportunity, afforded by the inaccuracy of this edition, of publishing
in Frankfort, in 1610, a Plautus, which was professedly the rival of that
which had been produced by the united efforts of Taubman and Gruterus, and
which had not only disappointed the expectations of the public, but of the
learned editors themselves. Their feelings on this subject, and the
_opposition Plautus_ edited by Pareus, stimulated Taubman to give an
amended edition of his former one. This second impression, which is much
more accurate than the first, was printed at Wittenberg in 1612, and was
accompanied with the dissertation of Camerarius _De Fabulis Plautonicis_,
and that of Jul. Scaliger, _De Versibus Comicis_. Taubman died the year
after the appearance of this edition: Its fame, however, survived him, and
not only retrieved his character, which had been somewhat sullied by the
bad ink and dirty paper of the former edition, but completely eclipsed the
classical reputation of Pareus. Envious of the renown of his rivals, that
scholar obtained an opportunity of inspecting the MSS. which had been
collated by Taubman and Gruterus. These he now compared more minutely than
his predecessors had done, and published the fruits of his labour at
Neustadt, in 1617. This was considered as derogating from the accuracy and
critical ingenuity of Gruterus, and insulting to the manes of
Taubman.—“Hinc jurgium, tumultus Grutero et Pareo.” Gruterus attacked
Pareus in a little tract, entitled _Asini Cumani fraterculus e Plauto
electis electus per Eustathium Schwarzium puerum_, 1619, and was answered
by Pareus not less bitterly, in his _Provocatio ad Senatum Criticum
adversus personatos Pareomastigos_. From this time Pareus and Gruterus
continued to print successive editions of Plautus, in emulation and odium
of each other. Gruterus printed one at Wittenberg in 1621, with a
prefatory invective against Pareus, and with the _Euphemiæ amicorum in
Plautum Gruteri_. Pareus then attempted to surpass his rival, by
comprehending in his edition a collection of literary miscellanies—as
Bullengerus’ description of Greek and Roman theatres. At length Pareus got
the better of his obstinate opponent, in the only way in which that was
possible—by surviving him; he then enjoyed an opportunity of publishing,
unmolested, his last edition of Plautus, printed at Frankfort, 1641,
containing a Dissertation on the Life and Writings of Plautus; the
Eulogies pronounced on him; Remarks on his Versification; a diatribe _de
jocis et salibus Plautinis_; an exhibition of his Imitations from the
Greek Poets; and, finally, the _Euphemiæ_ of Learned Friends. Being now
relieved of all apprehensions from the animadversions of Gruterus, he
boldly termed his edition “Absolutissimam, perfectissimam, omnibusque
virtutibus suis ornatissimam.”
I have now brought the history of this notable controversy to a
conclusion. During its subsistence, various other editions of Plautus had
been published—that of Isaac Pontanus, Amsterdam, 1620, from a MS. in his
own possession—that of Nic. Heinsius, Leyden, 1635, and that of
Buxhornius, 1645, who had the advantage of consulting a copy of Plautus,
enriched with MS. notes, in the handwriting of Joseph Scaliger.
Gronovius at length published the edition usually called the _Variorum_.
Bentley, in his critical emendations on Menander, speaks with great
contempt of the notes which Gronovius had compiled. The first Variorum
edition was printed at Leyden in 1664, the second in 1669, and the third,
which is accounted the best, at Amsterdam, 1684.
The Delphin edition was nearly coeval with these Variorum editions, having
been printed at Paris, 1679. It was edited under care of Jacques l’Œuvre
or Operarius, but is not accounted one of the best of the class to which
it belongs. The text was principally formed on the last edition of
Gruterus, and the notes of Taubman were chiefly employed. The
_Prolegomena_ on the Life and Writings of Plautus, is derived from various
sources, and is very copious. None of the old commentators could publish
an edition of Plautus, without indulging in a dissertation _De Obscœnis_.
In every Delphin edition of the classics we are informed, that _consultum
est pudori Serenissimi Delphini_; but this has been managed in various
ways. Sometimes the offensive lines are allowed to remain, but the
_interpretatio_ is omitted, and in its place star lights are hung out
alongside of the passage: but in the Delphin Plautus they are concentrated
in one focus, “_in gratiam_,” as it is expressed, “_provectioris ætatis_,”
at the end of the volume, under the imposing title “PLAUTI OBSCŒNA:”
“And there we have them all at one full swoop;
Instead of being scattered through the pages,
They stand forth marshalled in a handsome troop,
To meet the ingenuous youth of future ages.
Till some less rigid editor shall stoop
To call them back into their separate cages;
Instead of standing staring all together,
Like garden gods, and not so decent either(584).”
What is termed the Ernesti edition of Plautus, and which is commonly
accounted the best of that poet, was printed at Leipsic, 1760. It was
chiefly prepared by Aug. Otho, but Ernesti wrote the preface, containing a
full account of the previous editions of Plautus.
The two editions by the Vulpii were printed at Padua, 1725 and 1764.
The text of the second Bipontine edition, 1788, was corrected by Brunck.
The plan of the Bipontine editions of the Latin classics is well known.
There are scarcely any annotations or commentary subjoined; but the text
is carefully corrected, and an account of previous editions is prefixed.
In the late edition by Schmieder (Gottingen, 1804), the text of Gronovius
has been principally followed; but the editor has also added some
conjectural emendations of his own. The commentary appears to have been
got up in considerable haste. The preliminary notices concerning the Life
and Writings of Plautus, and the previous editions of his works, are very
brief and unsatisfactory. There is yet a more recent German edition by
Bothe, which has been published in volumes from time to time at Berlin.
Two MSS. never before consulted, and which the editor believes to be of
the eleventh or twelfth century, were collated by him. His principal aim
in this new edition is to restore the lines of Plautus to their proper
metrical arrangement.
With a similar view of restoring the proper measure to the verses, various
editions of single plays of Plautus have, within these few years, been
printed in Germany. Of this sort is the edition of the _Trinummus_, by
Hermann (Leipsic, 1800), and of the _Miles_ (Weimar, 1804), by Danz, who
has made some very bold alterations on the text of his author.
_Italy_ having been the country in which learning first revived,—in which
the MSS. of the Classics were first discovered, and the first editions of
them printed,—it was naturally to be expected, that, of all the modern
tongues of Europe, the classics should have been earliest translated into
the Italian language. Accordingly we find, that the most celebrated and
popular of them appeared in the _Lingua Volgare_, previous to the year
1500(585).
With regard to Plautus, Maffei mentions, as the first translation of the
_Amphitryon_, a work in _ottava rima_, printed without a date. This work
was long believed to be a production of Boccaccio(586), but it was in fact
written by Ghigo Brunelleschi, an author of equal or superior antiquity,
and whose initials were mistaken for those of Giovanni Boccaccio. Though
spoken of by Maffei as a dramatic version, it is in fact a tale or novel
founded on the comedy of Plautus, and was called _Geta e Birria_(587).
Pandolfo Collenuccio was the first who translated the _Amphitryon_ in its
proper dramatic form, and _terza rima_. He was in the service of Hercules,
first Duke of Ferrara, who made this version be represented, in January,
1487, in the splendid theatre which he had recently built, and on occasion
of the nuptials of his daughter Lucretia. The _Menechmi_, partly
translated in _ottava_ and partly in _terza rima_, was the first piece
ever acted on that theatre. The Este family were great promoters of these
versions; which, though not printed till the sixteenth century, were for
the most part made and represented before the close of the fifteenth. The
dramatic taste of Duke Hercules descended to his son Alphonso, by whose
command Celio Calcagnino translated the _Miles Gloriosus_. Paitoni
enumerates four different translations of the _Asinaria_, in the course of
the sixteenth century, one of which was acted in the monastery of St
Stephen’s, at Venice.
There were also a few versions of particular plays in the course of the
_eighteenth_ century; but Paitoni, whose work was printed in 1767,
mentions no complete Italian translation of Plautus, nor any version
whatever of the _Truculentus_, or _Trinummus_. The first version of all
the comedies was that of Nic. Eug. Argelio, which was accompanied by the
Latin text, and was printed at Naples, 1783, in 10 volumes 8vo.
The subject of translation was early attended to in _France_. In the year
1540, a work containing rules for it was published by Steph. Dolet, which
was soon followed by similar productions; and, in the ensuing century, its
principles became a great topic of controversy among critics and scholars.
Plautus, however, was not one of the classics earliest rendered. Though
Terence had been repeatedly translated while the language was almost in a
state of barbarism, Plautus did not appear in a French garb, till clothed
in it by the Abbé Marolles, at the solicitation of Furetiere, in 1658. The
Abbé, being more anxious to write many than good books, completed his task
in a few months, and wrote as the sheets were throwing off. His
translation is dedicated to the King, Louis XIV., and is accompanied by
the Latin text. We shall find, as we proceed, that almost all the Latin
authors of this period were translated into French by the indefatigable
Abbé de Marolles. He was unfortunately possessed of the opulence and
leisure which Providence had denied to Plautus, Terence, and Catullus; and
the leisure he enjoyed was chiefly devoted to translation. “Translation,”
says D’Israeli, “was the mania of the Abbé de Marolles; sometimes two or
three classical victims in a season were dragged into his slaughter-house.
The notion he entertained of his translations was their closeness; he was
not aware of his own spiritless style and he imagined that poetry only
consisted in the thoughts, and not in the grace and harmony of
verse(588).”
De Coste’s translation of the _Captivi_, in prose, 1716, has been already
mentioned. This author was not in the same hurry as Marolles, for he kept
his version ten years before he printed it. He has prefixed a
Dissertation, in which he maintains, that Plautus, in this comedy, has
rigidly observed the dramatic unities of time and place.
Mad. Dacier has translated the _Amphitryon_, _Rudens_, and _Epidicus_. Her
version, which is accompanied by the Latin text, and is dedicated to
Colbert, was first printed 1683. An examination of the defects and
beauties of these comedies, particularly in respect of the dramatic
unities, is prefixed, and remarks by no means deficient in learning are
subjoined. Some changes from the printed Latin editions are made in the
arrangement of the scenes. In her dissertation on the _Epidicus_, which
was a favourite play of Plautus himself, Mad. Dacier attempts to justify
this preference of the poet, and wishes indeed to persuade us, that it is
a faultless production. Goujet remarks that one is not very forcibly
struck with all the various beauties which she enumerates in perusing the
original, and still less sensible of them in reading her translation.
M. de Limiers, who published a version of the whole plays of Plautus in
1719, has not rendered anew those which had been translated by Mad. Dacier
and by De Coste, but has inserted their versions in his work. These are
greatly better than the others, which are translated by Limiers himself.
All of them are in prose, except the _Stichus_ and _Trinummus_, which the
author has turned into verse, in order to give a specimen of his poetic
talents. In the versifications, he has placed himself under the needless
restraint of rendering each Latin line by only one in French, so that
there should not be a verse more in the translation than the original; the
consequence of which is, that the whole is constrained and obscure.
Examinations and analyses of each piece, expositions of the plots, with
notices of Plautus’ imitations of the ancient writers, and those of the
moderns after him, are inserted in this work.
In the same year in which Limiers published his version, Gueudeville
brought out a translation of Plautus. It is a very free one; and Goujet
says, it is “Plaute travesti, plutot que traduit.” He attempts to make his
original more burlesque by exaggerations; and by singular hyperbolical
expressions; the _obscœna_ are a good deal enhanced; and he has at the end
formed a sort of table, or index, of the obscene passages, referring to
their proper page, which may thus be found without perusing any other part
of the drama. The professed object of the table is, that the reader may
pass them over if he choose.
A contemporary journal, comparing the two translations, observes,—“Il
semble que M. Limiers s’attache davantage à son original, et qu’il en fait
mieux sentir le véritable caractère; et que le Sieur Gueudeville est plus
badin, plus vif, plus bouffon(589).” Fabricius passes on them nearly the
same judgment(590).