Book Series Brepols Essays in European Culture, vol. 2

Ars edendi. A Practical Introduction to Editing Medieval Latin Texts

R.B.C. Huygens

  • Pages: 80 p.
  • Size:140 x 210 mm
  • Language(s):English
  • Publication Year:2000

  • € 25,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
  • ISBN: 978-2-503-51162-7
  • Paperback
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This outspoken booklet aims at serving as a practical guide for those interested in medieval Latin texts, and in particular their editing techniques, and aims at assisting in gaining experience and in making the best use of scant resources by signalling pitfalls and suggesting methodologies.

Review(s)

"Editing medieval Latin texts is an exhausting but exciting task. This is shown by the outstanding and famous scholar and editor Robert Huygens in his essay Ars edendi. (…) In short, someone who wants to edit a medieval, classical or humanist's Latin text finds much good advice in this booklet that is also a typographical beauty. Although it is not a handbook, but an essay (…), it should be on the bookshelf of every editor, so that he or she will be guided by common sense."

(J. Bloemendal, in Nederlands Archief voor Kerkgeschiedenis, 81, 2001, p. 200-201)

"Wahrlich eine aus reicher Erfahrung gespeiste Fibel, der man nur weiteste Verbreitung wünschen kann!"    

(R.S., in Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters, 57, 2002, p. 624)

"Its combination of insight and anecdote, couched in the author's suffer-no-fools tone, makes it both instructive and enjoyable to read."

(Scott G. Bruce, in The Medieval Review, 23 May 2011).

BIO

On 16 September 2022, Professor R.B.C Huygens, until 1997 professor of Medieval Latin at the University of Leiden (The Netherlands), passed away at the age of 90. What Professor Huygens has achieved as a text editor is generally acknowledged to be the nec plus ultra, to quote the motto printed on his obituary. With his passing a magister of the ars edendi has undoubtedly been taken from us.

Summary

This outspoken booklet aims at serving as a practical guide for those interested in medieval Latin texts, and in particular their editing techniques. Far from dealing with general theories and theoretical principles, its aim is to assist in gaining experience and in making the best use of scant resources by signalling pitfalls and suggesting methodologies. Examples are mostly taken from the writer´s own editions, several of which have appeared in the Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis. In spite of its modest size, Ars edendi deals with the numerous problems editors find themselves confronted with, and reflects the experience its author has accumulated in over forty years in the field.