P. Papinius Statius Volume II: Thebaid and Achilleid

Publius Papinius Statius was born in Neapolis (Naples) in about AD 50. The twelve books of his magnum opus, the Thebaid, were published in ca. 92. The Achilleid was begun in ca. 95 and left unfinished at his death in ca. 96.The present work, in three volumes, offers a revised text of the two epics with an apparatus criticus (volume I), a prose translation (volume II), and an extensive secondary apparatus accompanied by discussion of the manuscripts and previous editions (volume III).

About the Author :
J. B. Hall is Hildred Carlile Professor of Latin Emeritus of the University of London. He has published extensively on Claudian, Ovid and John of Salisbury.A. L. Ritchie is MA in Classics, University of London, and a freelance copy-editor of learned journals.M. J. Edwards is Professor of Classics at Queen Mary, University of London, and Director of the Institute of Classical Studies. He has published widely on the Attic Orators, Plutarch and the Latin philosophical works of Francis Bacon. He is co-author with J. B. Hall of the editio princeps of Pierfrancesco Giustolo's commentary on Claudian, De raptu Proserpinae.

Review :
'The volumes have been in the marketplace for nearly a decade, and they provide readers ample material for studies in text-critical principles and translation theory and in manuscript collation. [...] Cambridge Scholars Publishers (CSP) offer an impeccably edited textbook. Well-polished, critical, Latin texts are editorial creations. [Hall, Ritchie and Edwards] are astute text-critics. The result is not one that has surrendered to accepted wisdom. [...] In appearance, this edition of Statius' Latin text is pronounced and easy to read. Unlike the miniscule font size one finds in the critical apparatus of an Oxford Classical Text or in a Bibliotheca Teubneriana, CSP's critical apparatus presents a font equal in size to the printed text. This presentation is ideal. Hopefully editions of the same kind will appear regularly.'Darrell SuttonEditor, The DS Commentary on BooksThe Quarterly Review, 04.04.2017'It combines a radically new text, which both draws heavily on conjecture and is based on a broad knowledge of the manuscript and printed traditions, with a precise translation, and a huge amount of additional information and observations. Addressing a scholarly readership, it will undoubtedly foster the present-day renewal in the study of Statius' epics and restore to prominence debates concerning textual criticism and the history of transmission....The present translation is very thorough and easy to read, and it succeeds in being an effective aid. .... The text may satisfy the most vigorous advocates of conjectural criticism, while the materials gathered from both the manuscript and printed traditions are bound to delight even the most conservative minds... Another factor that shapes the primary apparatus is a radically new view of the manuscript tradition, which leads to the rejection of any common siglum (...) and to the individual designation of every manuscript. The result is a succinct, remarkably legible apparatus that is thoroughly informative about the text printed and about variants of particular merit. ... Hall's critical choices ...will arouse lively and constructive discussions for many years to come.... The documentary basis is much broader than that of previous editions. ... The edition of Hall, Ritchie and Edwards ranks very high.'Valery BerlincourtUniversity of GenevaBryn Mawr Classical Review 10.04.2010'This is an extremely well produced book, for which the authors must be congratulated. I spotted no errors, and it is clearly laid out and well organised...Volume III in particulat is a treasure trove of fascinating material, and any lover of Statius will find much to enjoy in these volumes. These volumes would also make fantastic material for a graduate class in textual criticism.'Helen LovattUniversity of NottinghamJournal of Classical Philology, 14 (2010)