Wisdom
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Abstract
The Classical Review vol. 62 no. 2 © The Classical Association 2012; all rights reserved y Díaz1 concerning the edition made in the reign of King Recceswinth (649–672) based on the Braulian version of the text (p. xlix and n. 100 for the reference to Díaz). S. states that her text reproduces the long version of the Etymologies (p. li). Of the four families of manuscripts described only one is called ‘famille longue extra-hispanique’ (Sankt Gallen 237, c.ix, and Leiden, Voss. lat. F.74, c.ix), and the reader assumes that this is the sole basis of the edition. S. has perhaps not explained herself with suffi cient clarity on this point, since the general practice of the ALMA collection is to edit the long version of the Etymologies of the Hispanic family, represented in this volume (without the qualifi cation of ‘long’) by Madrid, BN, Vitr. 14.3 (c.viii) and El Escorial, T.II.24 (c.ix). It is also unfortunate that the ALMA editors have not taken into account the very important manuscript work of M.C. Díaz y Díaz, Los capítulos sobre los metales de las Etimologías de Isidoro de Sevilla. Ensayo de edición crítica, con traducción y notas (1970), pp. 15–31. This small volume obscurely published in Leon is not suffi ciently well known to students of Isidore. S.’s sensible decision to follow the reading of the manuscripts with the greatest fi delity possible has led her to depart from Lindsay’s text in some 212 places. However, the division of Book 14 into nine chapters is not supported by the manuscripts and is inherited from Lindsay and from the editorial tradition in general. S. clearly shows that the most likely division was into eight chapters, in which the current chapter 7 (De promuntoriis) formed part of chapter 6 (De insulis), with the title De insulis et promuntoriis. S. has sensible observations, too, on ‘Isidorian orthography’, although I doubt that Isidore made use of the Greek alphabet. S. states that she uses these Greek forms only when they are well attested in the manuscripts. I have never encountered a manuscript with works written by Visigothic authors in which the Greek alphabet is used; and I certainly do not believe that Isidore knew how to use breathings and accents correctly. Perhaps it would be better not to use them in an edition of this type of work. This is a magnifi cent work, far superior to other recent volumes of this same collection, which have often shown evidence of haste. The complexity of the manuscript tradition and the sources used by Isidore means that meticulous study and profound deliberation are required. Fortunately, these requirements are fully met in S.’s edition of Book 14.