THE GOLDEN ASS:
EDITIONS & TRANSLATIONS








All existing editions of the Golden Ass descend from a single manuscript F (Florence, Laurentianus 68.2), copied at Monte Cassino in the late eleventh century, and now residing in the Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurentiana, Florence. This manuscript ultimately derives from the double recension of a certain Sallustius, made first at Rome in 395CE and then at Constantinople in 397CE. MS F is illegible at some points; however, fortunately it a copy was made of it in the 12th or 13th century (when it was in much better repair), probably also at Monte Cassino. This copy is known as φ (Florence, Laurentianus 29.2), also kept in the Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurentiana. While φ has some flaws, it is indispensable for reading MS F at its illegible points. During the Italian Renaissance (14th & 15th centuries) further copies were made, not from F or φ, but from a different copy of F (now lost). The standard text is based mostly on MSS F and φ , with a minor supplement of readings from the Renaissance copies.


Some Noteworthy Modern Latin Editions
Editors
Title
Date
Publisher
ABE
R. Helm
Apulei opera quae supersunt (I):
Apulei Platonici Madaurensis
Metamorphoseon Libri XI

1907
Leipzig: Bibliotheca Teubneriana
(1955 - rev.),
(1992 - 3rd ed. w/ sup.)+
C. Giarratano, revised by P. Frassinetti
Metamorphoseon libri XI
1960
Torino: ?
-
D.S. Robertson & P. Vallette *
Apulée: Les Métamorphoses
1940-5
Paris: Les Belles Lettres (1940-5)
* - the Robertson & Vallette edition is the one recommended by P.G. Walsh & E.J. Kenney
+ - I do not know what the rev. editions or the supplement are, only possessing the 1st edition (the only Latin version I have).

cupid & vneus
Cupid Unfastening the Belt of Venus
painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds



Selected Passages with Latin Text and
Comparisons of Different English Translations



English Translation/Translator Information
[this idea originates from Syd Allen's Beowulf translation comparisons site]
Translator
Date
Comments
Selected Passages
William Adlington
1566
First English translation, Elizabethean. The edition Shakespeare read, influencing his work; in particular the plays A Midsummer's Night Dream, Othello & Much To Do About Nothing .

 more to be added

Thomas Taylor
1822
Taylor's thorough, highly-annotated version emphasises the work's philosophical aspects, which he discerns even in the numerous 'titillating' episodes. Explaining rather weakly that, although "there is no real lasciviousness in the passages, yet as the generality of readers in the present age would fancy that there is," Taylor eliminated the naughty bits and printed them separately as "Passages Suppressed." When present, these usually appear as tipped-in slips or as a separate appendix.

more to be added if I obtain a copy ( or, if you own one, and feel like it, please email me the passages)
Bk. II
 
Bk. III
 
Bk. IV & V

Bk. IX

Bk. XI

Nameless
[Bohn's Library]
1853
to be added
F. D. Byrne

1905
??? - to be added if I obtain a copy ( or, if you own one, and feel like it, please email me the passages)
Bk. II
 
Bk. III
 
Bk. IV & V

Bk. IX

Bk. XI

H.E. Butler
1910
expurgated - ??? - to be added if I obtain a copy ( or, if you own one, and feel like it, please email me the passages)
Bk. II
 
Bk. III
 
Bk. IV & V

Bk. IX

Bk. XI

J. Arthur Hanson
1915?
??? - to be added if I obtain a copy ( or, if you own one, and feel like it, please email me the passages)
[Latin text & English translation]
Bk. II
 
Bk. III
 
Bk. IV & V

Bk. IX

Bk. XI

1932
more to be added
1950
to be added
P.G. Walsh
1994
to be added
E.J. Kenney
1998
to be added


English Editions Information
with links to Book Sellers carrying the editions
Translator
Date
Preface
Publisher
In Print
Lang.
Illustrated
[Illustrator]
ABE
[used]
Alldirect
Amazon
Amazon.uk
William Adlington
1566
Thomas Seccombe
London: Grant Richards (1913)
 [1150 copies]
N
Eng.
frontispiece
?
-
-
-
W. Adlington
1566
E.B. Osborn
N
Eng.
16 plates (8 colour, 4 of these w/ gold paint);
 other B&W ill.
Jean de Bosschère
-
-
-
W. Adlington
1566
E.B. Osborn
New York: Rarity Press (1931)
N
Eng.
3? colour + B&W
Jean de Bosschère
-
-
-
W. Adlington
1566
E.B. Osborn
London: Abbey Library (nd-c.1945)
N
Eng.
B&W plates & ill.
Jean de Bosschère
-
-
-
W. Adlington
1566
?
London: John Westhouse (1947)
N
Eng.
B&W
Brian Robb
-
-

W. Adlington
1566
?
London: Richard Lesley & Co (1946)
N
Eng.

9 colour + B&W
Webster Murray
-
-
-
W. Adlington
1566
?
?:? (?-c.1920)
N
Eng.
Y
Martin Trevors
-
-
-
W. Adlington;
revised by
S. Gaselee
1566
James Morwood
Wordsworth (1996)
Y
Eng.
N


BUY
cover

Thomas Taylor1
1822
?
London: Robert Triphook & Thomas Rodd (1822)
N
Eng.
N

-
-
-
T. Taylor1
1822
?
Frome, Somerset: Prometheus Trust, (1997)
Y
Eng.
N

-

anonymous2
1853
anonymous
London: George Bell & Sons (1902)
[Bohn's Library]
N
Eng.
frontispiece
?
-
-
-
F. D. Byrne
1905
?
London: Imperial Press (1905)
N
Eng.
?
?
-
-
-
H.E. Butler3
[2 vols.]
1910
?
Oxford: Oxford Uni Press (1910)
N
Eng.
?
?
-
-
-
J. Arthur Hanson
[2 vols.]
1915?
?
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Uni. Press (1989)
[Loeb Classics]
Y
Latin/
Eng.

N

Vol. 1:


Vol. 2:

-
Jack Lindsay
1932
J. Lindsay
N
Eng.
B&W
Percival Goodman
-
-
-
J. Lindsay
1932
J. Lindsay
Bloomington: Uni. of Indiana Press (1960)
[Midland Books No 36]

Y
Eng.
N


-
Robert Graves
1950
R. Graves
Harmondsworth: Penguin (1950)
[2000 signed copies]
N
Eng.
N

-
-
-
R. Graves
1950
R. Graves
London: Farrar Straus & Giroux (1951)
Y
Eng.
N


BUY
cover

R. Graves
1950
R. Graves
Folio Society (1960)
N
Eng.
9 bicolour
Michael Ayrton
-
-
-
R. Graves
1950
R. Graves
Harmondsworth :
 Penguin (1964)
N
Eng.
N

-
-
-
P.G. Walsh
1994
P.G. Walsh
Oxford:
Oxford Uni. Press (1994)
Y
Eng.
N

-

BUY
cover

E.J. Kenney
1998
E.J. Kenney
Harmondsworth :
Penguin(1999)
Y
Eng.
N

-

BUY
cover

Notes:
1 - Taylor's volume includes the Golden Ass, On the God of Socrates, On the Philosophy of Plato; the reprint is also available from The Prometheus Trust [UK] or Minerva Books [USA] .
     Somewhat expurgated.
2 - The Bohn's Library edition includes the Golden Ass, The God of Socrates, The Florida, Apologia. Some 'risqué' passages left untranslated.
3 - Expurgated.



Italian, French, German Translation & Edition Information & Seller Links
Translator
Title
Date
Publisher
Language
ABE
Amazon
Q. Cataudella (ed.)
Il romanzo antico greco e latino
1973
Florence: ?
italiano
-
-
Pierre Grimal
Romans grecs et latins
1958
Paris: Gallimard (1958)
français
A. Rode und E. Burck
Metamorfosen oder Der goldene Esel
1961
Hamburg: ?
Deutsch
-


last modified 26-Jan-2002
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