C And he discerns and notes things in such a way that whoever reads those summaries may seem to himself to know the entire books and the genius of the authors. Who, therefore, of our age would dare compare himself with Photius, whether we consider his genius or his polymathy and polymathy?
*From the letters of Johannes Livineius to D. H.* I think it is of great literary importance that Photius’ work be pressed forward. For it is varied, and provides a great service to all talents and studies. Furthermore, how highly do you value our knowing at least how many good writers in every kind of learning, who appeared and were read by that most learned man, have suffered shipwreck?
*From the letters of Jos. Scaliger to the same.* I wish, my Hoeschel, that I could assist you in adorning the edition of Photius. I once read the entire book, divided into two volumes, written in the hand of Henricus Stephanus; a varied work, from whose edition it is uncertain whether greater glory will accrue to you or utility to others. Certainly, such an excellent work was worthy of no editor other than you, who, by the edition of so many good authors, have wished to attest both to your own erudition and to your kindly sentiment toward literature. Neither I nor our friend Vulcanius can assist you in this, as we possess no copies of his book. But if you have two, as you say, I think you can contentedly spare the others.
*From the letters of Isaac Casaubon to the same.* Do you indeed mean it? That you are in the process of publishing the Bibliotheca of Photius? O work truly munificent! O generous man! It is easy to estimate from among the things published of his books as one estimates a lion from its claws.
ISAAC CASAUBON TO DAVID HOESCHEL, GREETINGS. D I have perused your Photius with as much diligence as I could amidst the noise of the court, and certainly with great eagerness. I also showed your gift to learned and great men, whose number in this royal city is by no means to be regretted. All offer immortal thanks to you and the most excellent Velser, hoping that, through your authority and industry, they will have this most useful writer by the coming autumn. Among the men of this order, President de Thou holds the leading place: a man whom I consider divinely given to this age as an example of piety, integrity, and uprightness, and, to use a single phrase, of "every excellence and beauty of soul." There are many others, both at court and in the Parisian senate, who are "shining stars" and, like your circle, most studious and lovers of pure literature. All these await your Photius most eagerly, and especially Franciscus Pithoeus, of whom I wrote recently; since the copy of Photius is in his hands, I shall compare your codex with his and send the "selected various passages" here. Neither he nor I, however, have spent much care on this, but from a comparison of a few pages, we have learned that little or no help at all for adorning your edition is to be expected from the Pithoeus book. Wherefore, I think we should proceed otherwise. Indeed, had I read at home in my library what was sent by you, or had I had a little more leisure for that business, I would have observed more and better things in that writer and shared them with you. But believe me when I seriously affirm that there is nothing more busy, nothing more alien to studies, than the life we have lived so far in this court. Nevertheless, so that you might know that your Photius has been read by us even amidst these overwhelming occupations, we have scribbled a few things on this paper that came to mind at the time. For you could not expect anything more serious from me now in vain. Farewell, most learned man, and love me constantly. Paris, May 28, 1600.
*FROM THE NOTES OF ANDREAS SCHOTTUS, ON THE CHRESTOMATHY OF PROCLUS.* *Ἀνεγνώσθη*, "it has been read," or *Ἀνεγνώσθησαν*, "they have been read." Thus, concerning each of the books he himself read with judgment, Photius the Patriarch of Constantinople speaks in the *Bibliotheca of the books read by him*, so that his word may be taken as that of an eyewitness. For he did not judge his entire work, as is usually done in this age, from mere hearsay or passing mention, or as if through a lattice, but from the beginning to the end, having read it through; he judges freely as a censor and most formidable critic, possessed of the highest genius and judgment, concerning authors—past two hundred and seventy—philologists, poets, historians, orators, philosophers, and theologians: the greatest part of whom have perished, whether by the injury of time or the negligence of their forebears. And indeed, concerning the character of style, the number of authors, and the titles, which are genuine and which are pseudepigrapha, what he finds in each worthy of praise and imitation, and what conversely is worthy of blame, he declares without pretense and without hatred, but in the manner of the ancients. Finally, in what age each flourished, and the rest—since it would be long to go through them one by one—he pronounces with confidence.
J. LIPSIUS TO MARCUS VELSER, GREETINGS. D I rejoice that you have received our Seneca, and truly received it—that is, that it has been pleasing to you. Is not the best of writers worthy of the best of men? As for your saying that some desire the remainder: they are few, and nowadays the fashion prevails to be fault-finders, or rather, disturbers. Let there be pardon, or at any rate some delay, due to health; and perhaps another edition will provide them. There are things even in those books that will not perish for one who desires them. But you must confess your debt for the dedication. And thus—
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you speak? You should have said by judgment: and therefore that you owe nothing. Believe me, I spoke thus as if I were giving my opinion sworn in the senate. I have long loved you, my Velser, but affection does not cloud that light of the mind. But, hark, there is something that we may commend, or request, in the name of the common wealth of letters. Photius, the Latin version of our great friend Andreas Schottus, has long been with you; and when shall he himself see the light, and we see him? Certainly, among few others, that writer deserves it: who alone rescued from fate—I say total fate—so many monuments of most illustrious intellects, and preserved at least the names and, as it were, the limbs of the writers. How many did he read, from them select, and—if I may speak so—cull, whom we would not otherwise have known? From sacred and profane [authors], from treatise-writers, historians, orators, poets—and there is nothing in the whole of Greek literature, or, to speak more truly, in the library, which that man has not tasted. It is a most beautiful custom to read or to listen at the table: but this is more beautiful and more useful: to annotate, to judge, to excerpt. Photius did this, and he alone of those who have reached us. Your David Höschel, even under your auspices, first provided the Greek text, variously and industriously emended: but you know to what [state] things have come in this age of sloth; few read or grasp these things, and if the Latin is not added, I would almost say he has not provided them at all. Therefore, A. Schottus, a man born for the public good, has labored, and provided the whole in Latin, and entrusted it to you. Behold, we rightfully demand this of you. Do what you are accustomed to do and for which you were born; assist the public cause, or [rather] your own private one, at no loss. My Velser, apply this effort, even though the affairs of Europe are so trembling and nearly desperate! Pannonia, and now the neighboring Illyricum, make us anxious:
Whither will this weight incline? Where will it place its threats?
Wherever it may, let us stand, and firm in what is honorable, let us receive—nay, let us overcome—every force of fate; that is, let us endure it. Farewell. Louvain, the day after the Lord’s Nativity, in the year 1606.
ON THE INTERPRETATION OF THE PHOTIAN BIBLIOTHECA, EDITED IN LATIN BY THE REVEREND FATHER ANDREAS SCHOTTUS OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS.
Federicus Jamotius, M.D.
Schottus, from the mist of shadow, bears a namesake, As Photius possesses the omen of brilliant light. And since Schottus has brought him forth from dire fog, Illuminating the Photian writings with a new light. (Those records of men of old, Photius sealed and marked, Honoring them with clear sigla) If it is permitted to give true names to true things, Who was once Schottus, let him be another Photius.
Franciscus Schottus, Jurisconsult and Senator of Antwerp.
The writings of Photius, which once, enclosed in a dark prison, Horrid, unseen, lay sluggish in the night, Because he brought them forth into the clear shores of light, Beloved brother, half of my soul, I congratulate and rejoice; may grateful posterity Henceforth, according to the ancient custom of our forefathers, desire to pay thanks. Here light and darkness conspire with a favorable omen, shining, For the Library, previously obscure, lies open. Light glitters from the darkness—lo, mutual: and night in turn, And the black day receive light from the beam. Am I mistaken, or do the eyes, now that the gloom is dispelled, behold The light, and in their mind, God and the ray of justice? The gift of Photius will be so many read volumes of the Greeks, The gift of Schottus will be that these, returned to Latium, can be read.
Joannes Bochius, Secretary to the S.P.Q. of Antwerp.
Having nothing but a name from the light, void of light, Photius, and buried in darkness and mold, Lay squalid, and long fed the sluggish moths, Hidden, and was an exile from his native seats. Deprived of the sight of men, far from the Hesperian World he lay hidden, shut in a prison, lacking light. But Schottus, who draws his name from obscure shadows (I sing a wonder in a slender poem, yet a true one), Dug out the light placed in dense gloom: Schottus draws his name [from] obscure shadow, As Photius possesses the omen of clear light. Yet since Schottus removes this one from shadowy darkness, Since he brightens the Photian writings with new light: (Writings by which Photius, as a censor, marks the monuments of old men With freer judgment) If it is permitted to assign true names to true things, He who was recently Schottus, shall be another Photius. Thus shadows repair lights, and night [repairs] day. The riddles of the Oedipodean Sphinx return, Nor do our centuries bear fewer monsters of their own. Whoever, however, looks upon clear things under the name of shadows, Which Schottus covers with his illustrious light-bearing mind, And examines the rare arts of an illustrious man, Which both Latium and all of Greece wonder at: It is no wonder that he will say she emits rays, The lamp from which Photius has his light. Nor will it wonder that shadow brings forth gleaming torches, Which brought this light to others, more than many, before. Hail, O shadows, gleaming with shining light, May it be enough for this to be the glory of your gift: That Photius may come forth into the world, purer, Light from a cloud, having returned from prison, a beam from the night.
Maximilianus Vriendius, Secretary to the Senate of Ghent.
A wondrous thing, but a true one, that Schottus, with no clear light, Can scatter brightness from his own mists; And lacking a leader, add glory and beam to the light, And bring the writings of so many ancient fathers out of darkness. I am lying, yet he is the old Photius now anew, once Clear, and then cloudy through age and mold; Who lately from the native night into new shores of light Has shone forth, illustrious with the honor of the Ausonian toga: Alone, he acts as the cause worthy of its own defender.