THE POETICAL TREATISES OF HORACE, VIDA, AND BOILEAU WITH THE TRANSLATIONS BY HOWES, PITT, AND SOAME EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY ALBERT S. COOK PROFESSOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE ΤΟ JACOB COOPER PROFESSOR OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN RUTGERS COLLEGE IN GRATEFUL AND AFFECTIONATE REGARD 53 Philosoly mat Bib 2-11-37 013132 add cop. PREFACE. A COLLECTION in some respects similar to this was made by the Abbé Batteux in 1771, and published at Paris in two volumes. Besides Horace, Vida, and Boileau, it contained Aristotle's Poetics, and was entitled Les Quatre Poëtiques. The translations were by Batteux, and in French prose. The notes are partly original and partly selected; some are in Latin, some in French; and they are of all degrees of helpfulness. Batteux's collection is now virtually inaccessible, and, were it common, would not appeal strongly to the English-speaking student. Considering the historic importance and intrinsic value of these treatises, there seemed, then, a sufficient reason for joining them anew. The exclusion of Aristotle has been dictated by the impossibility of sufficiently illustrating his treatise within the necessary limits of space, and by the fact that the Latin tradition admits of clearer exposition when segregated from the chief source of Hellenic theory. For the text of Horace I have relied chiefly upon Wickham, though I have collated Orelli's third edition, and have here and there adopted a reading of his. The analytical summaries in the notes are also by Wickham. The notes to this part include, as will be seen, the chief paraphrases by Pope and Byron of passages from the Ars Poetica, as contained respectively in the Essay on Criticism and the Hints from V |