[lit-ideas] Re: The Loeb Classical Library: From James Loeb's Country House to the World!
- From: "Mike Geary" <atlas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 05:55:00 -0500
JL:
Again, your personal connections with the Loeb greatly appeciated.<<
When you write "the Loeb", I assume you mean Henry Loeb who was mayor of
Memphis during the Garbage Strike and the assassination of Martin Luther
King, Jr. He was educated at Brown University, had a degree in English and
was thorough-going racist and anti-labor bigot. He refused to integrate the
city schools in a peaceful manner like the mayors of Atlanta and Houston
did, thus setting Memphis back several years in development. His refusal to
recognize and negotiate with the garbage workers union is what brought MLK
to Memphis and his subsequent death. When his tenure as Mayor was over,
Loeb he moved to Forrest City, AR about 45 miles west of Memphis -- a town
named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the original founders of the
KKK -- an appropriate place for him. He died not very long ago. And good
riddance.
I'm sure that's the Loeb you mean. I don't know of any other Loebs.
Glad to be of help,
Mike Geary
Memphis
----- Original Message -----
From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2007 9:57 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] The Loeb Classical Library: From James Loeb's Country
House to the World!
I'm trying to enrich my collection and info on the Loeb Classical Library.
Apparently, it was found by James Loeb, who I assume was Faculty of the
'Classics' Department at Harvard.
Apparently, it was founded in 1911. I'm not sure which were the first
titles.
For some reason it was a joint venture with Heinemann Ltd., London -- not
any longer.
I find the green (Greek) and red (Latin) volumes very appealing, and I'm
trying to collect the most I can.
Unfortunately, in the bookshops I've visited (including the one in
Cambridge, Mass., -- the HUP office in the gallery off campus) have REPEATS
after REPEATS after REPEATS of the most popular volumes --. The Yale
Bookshop has some repeats and some titles missing -- e.g. the Bede.
I notice that what starts as a 2-volume collection may be advertised into a
three-volume collection (of which the third volume is still in press). I was
looking of the "ACHILLEIA", but while the "THEBAID" has been published, the
Achilleia seems to be still in the presses.
Today, I acquired Demostenes's LXI, so-called "Erotic Essay". Must say it's
very interesting although Geary would call it 'protreptric' rather than
'erotic'. Dover makes a lot of fuss of Askhines's prosecution of Timarkhos,
and apparently Demosthenes defended Timarkhos. The 'erotic essay'
("Erotikon") is more like an invitation to study philosophy. There are
innuendos on homosexuality. They say that since females were out of the
social life, Lesbos had to sing songs to her girlfriends.
I would think homosexuality has a deeper root thanbeing just an 'ugly' --
the editor of the LOEB classical library reads -- effect of the seggregation
of the sexes -- but I see the editors point.
It's a grand collection, the Loeb. It's so wide-ranging. While I'm
concentrating on titles of philosophical or literary interest, I'll also see
if I can get the ones on art, etc.
If you have a special LOEB volume you love, let me have the details. Are the
Epigrammata by Martial worth the two-volumes they occupy.
The volumes have the right size and as Virginia Woolf said, it was the first
collection that showed that some respect for her beloved "common reader"
("No longer I will be independent of the Loeb volumes", she wrote.
In some cases the choice of the right volume is a trick. I'm looking for
Procopius's reference to the Ingvaeones and the other pre-historic English,
but I'm not sure which of the 8 volumes I should consult!
If you happen to see in a second-hand bookshop or in a local library sale
any of these, please let me know. They are sold NEW for 24 dollars each,
which is a bit too much -- at least for my thin Demosthenes. You CAN find
them online for less, and then there's the packing and handling. I wish I
were in Wales, in the city of BOOKS, where I could get them for reasonable
prices.
I was reading that Gibbons, when travelling for the Grand Tour, would take
with him a 'travelling library -- now in the British Museum --. Some of the
LOEB are a bit outdated for that although Pausanias has been described as
the Baedeker of his day.
Again, your personal connections with the Loeb greatly appeciated.
Cheers,
JL
J. L. Speranza, Esq.
Town:
Calle Arenales 2021, Piso 5, St. 8,
La Recoleta C1124AAE,
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Tel. 54 11 4824 4253
Fax 54 221 425 9205
Country:
St. Michael Hall,
Calle 58, No. 611,
La Plata B1900 BPY
Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Tel. 54 221 425 7817
Fax 54 221 425 9205
http://www.stmichaels.com.ar
jls@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
http://www.netverk/~jls.htm
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