Selected works. Anthology - what is it?

Since ancient times, compilation of various collections began, including small, mostly epigraphic poems by various authors. It should be said that in the course of history compilations were compiled not only from works of literature, but also, for example, music, cinema, etc. They were called anthologies. Some similarities have such manuscripts with textbook materials. What is the meaning of the word "anthology"?

Terminology

The concept has Greek roots. What does the word "anthology" mean? In translation from ancient Greek - "flower garden", "collection of flowers." I must say that, apart from the poems, aphorisms or sayings, other selected works were collected. In antiquity, the anthology of thought was popular. It is thanks to these collections that today we know the statements of many sages. Who compiled the first anthology? What is this in the modern sense? Let's look at this in an article.

History

When was the first anthology compiled? What is it, we found out above, and now give some historical information. The first compiler of this collection was Meleager from Syria. It dates back to the 60th year BC. E. Among the authors of antiquity are Phillipp of Thessalonica, Straton of Sard and Diogenian of Heracleia. However, all these collections, bearing different names, were not preserved. So far, late meetings have come. For example, in the 10th century, Konstantin Kefal compiled an interesting anthology (what is it, by that time philosophers knew well enough). Constantine used the collections of his predecessors. In particular, the works of Agathius. The next collection was compiled by Maxim Planad. Many researchers have drawn conclusions when studying this anthology, that this is a tasteless collection in fact. It, however, included a number of curious epigrams that related to works of art. The most famous was one of the first collections compiled by John Laskaris. Subsequently, the anthology was reprinted several times. Of all that existed, only the last version was reissued. He was composed by Henry Stepan. For this anthology the author used a variety of sources.

Anthologia inedita

In 1606, Salmazy, in the Heidelberg Library, discovered the surviving copy of the list of anthologies compiled by Konstantin Kefal, and compared it to the collection of Planad. Having written out from the first all the poems that were not in the second, he compiled a new manuscript. However, the work was not published, as well as, in fact, the publication of d'Orville. During the Thirty Years' War, the manuscript was moved to Rome, and then to Paris (during the period of revolutionary wars). In 1816, at last the anthology returned to Heidelberg. During all this time, excerpts from the collection were published several times in fragments or in full volume under the title Anthologia inedita.

The Ancient Manuscripts

It should be said that all the material, which was later supplemented by idylls of poets, epigrams, fragments of works found in inscriptions and various works, was published in 1776 by Brunk. Then this manuscript was reprinted by Jacobs with some omissions and explanations. After this same author prepared and the second meeting on the basis of a copy made in 1776 in Rome. In this anthology there is a collection of Konstantin Kefal with epigrams of Planad attached to him. To this edition in 1828-1829, he added additions taken from various sources, Welker. In Paris, according to a similar scheme, with comments and a translation into Latin of Dubner (who died before the completion of the second volume) in 1864-1872. A new edition appeared. Selected selected passages were translated into German.

Literature of some nationalities

Eastern peoples have a lot of collections, which contain various excerpts from poetry works belonging to one author, or collected excerpts on specific topics of the best writers or poets. They are often joined by biographical notes, which are set out in chronological order. The most ancient known anthology is the people of China. This manuscript is entitled "Shi-Jing" and belongs to the canonical editions. Its author is Confucius. There are a few anthological collections in the Sanskrit literature. In this respect, the Arabs are somewhat richer. From them, I must say, the tradition of compiling collections of favorites passed to the Persians. In turn, the Persian assemblies were a model for Muslim Hindu, Ottoman, Turkic manuscripts.

Various collections of excerpts of works have a popular historical or pedagogical theme.

It should be said that in our time such meetings are compiled according to different genres and for different age groups (for example, "The Anthology of Russian Literature for Children").

Roman manuscripts

It should be said that modernity does not have a single ancient Roman collection. The writing of anthologies began with writers of a later period. In the process of creation, they drew material from one large collection, which belonged to the 6th century, or took excerpts from inscriptions and manuscript works. The first compiler - Scaliger, published an anthology in 1573. Subsequently, several works of Piteja were added to her. This edition, which was published in 1590, was used by Peter Burman (Jr.). He created a manuscript containing 1544 separate verses. Supplemented and amended, it was reissued in 1835 by Mayer. And in 1869 Reese made up a new critical meeting, of which quite a lot was ruled out. So, briefly we considered the concept of "anthology", what it is, and who were the first authors.