Kulturgeschichte des Hellenismus is all i n all a v e r y u s e f u l a n d s t i m u l a t i n g b o o k . O n e of its chief m e r i t s is i t s o r i g i n a l i t y of t h o u g h t a n d i t s p r o f u s i o n of n e w i d e a s , c o n t r o v e r s i a l or n o t . T h e r e a d e r is a d v i s e d t o u s e i t c a u t i o u s l y , h o w
-ever, a n d n o t p l a c e t o o m u c h r e l i a n c e o n s o m e of t h e d e t a i l e d f a c t s g i v e n t h e r e .
[ W a r s z a w a ] Anna Świderek
E . G . T u r n e r , Greek Papyri: an Introduction, O x f o r d , a t t h e C l a r e n d o n P r e s s 1968, p p . 220, 8 p l a t e s .
E . G. T u r n e r , Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World, O x f o r d , a t t h e C l a r e n d o n P r e s s 1971, p p . 132, 71 p l a t e s .
I n Greek Papyri, w h i c h a p p e a r e d in 1968, P r o f e s s o r T u r n e r p r o m i s e d its c o m p a n i o n v o l u m e , Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World. T h i s w a s p u b l i s h e d also b y t h e C l a r e n d o n P r e s s , in 1971. T h e s e v o l u m e s are c o m p l e m e n t a r y , a n d f o r t h a t r e a s o n , s h o u l d , I t h i n k , b e r e v i e w e d j o i n t l y in o r d e r t o d o t h e m j u s t i c e . I n b o t h b o o k s t h e a u t h o r w a s a i m i n g p r i m a r i l y a t t h e n o n - s p e c i a l i s t classical s c h o l a r , b u t i t is w o r t h p o i n t i n g o u t t h a t also t h e p r o f e s s i o n a l p a p y -rologist will f i n d t h e m a m i n e of v a l u a b l e o b s e r v a t i o n s a n d s u g g e s t i o n s . I n t h e f i r s t of t h e s e t w o b o o k s P r o f e s s o r T u r n e r w i s h e s , as h e himself e x p r e s s e s i t i n t h e Preface, " t o f a c i l i t a t e a p r o f i t a b l e a p p r o a c h t o t h e originals (in t h e m a n n e r of W . S c h u b a r t ' s Einführung in die Papyruskunde, B e r l i n , 1918), r a t h e r t h a n t o s u m m a r i z e a n d c o d i f y t h e f i n d i n g s of p a s t s c h o l a r s " (p. У.) I n t h e n e x t v o l u m e , on t h e o t h e r h a n d , his a i m is t o p r o v i d e t h e r e a d e r w i t h " a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e b o d y of m a t e r i a l i l l u s t r a t i n g G r e e k m a n u s c r i p t s w r i t t e n i n a n t i q u i t y " , a n d t o e x p l a i n h o w a m a n u s c r i p t w a s t u r n e d i n t o a b o o k , a t a p e r i o d w h e n a b o o k w a s a l w a y s a m a n u s c r i p t . T h u s t h e t w o b o o k s t a k e n t o g e t h e r c o n s t i t u t e a n i n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e world of G r e e k p a p y r i , a l t h o u g h o n l y t h e f i r s t of t h e m b e a r s s u c h a s u b t i t l e . F o r a s t a r t i t s h o u l d p e r h a p s b e s a i d t h a t a l t h o u g h in Greek Papyri P r o f e s s o r T u r n e r r e f e r s t o W . S с h u b a r t ' s Einführung as m o r e or less his m o d e l , h e d i v e r g e s f r o m , t h a t m o d e l t o q u i t e a c o n s i d e r a b l e e x t e n t , e v e n i n t h e v e r y essence or p r i n c i p l e of his b o o k . F o r , u n l i k e S c h u b a r t , h e t r e a t s his m a t e r i a l m a i n l y , a n d e v e n , one is t e m p t e d t o s a y , solely, f r o m t h e p o i n t of v i e w of t h e philologist. H e p u t s g r e a t s t r e s s , i t is t r u e , o n t h e i m p o r t a n c e of p a p y r u s doc-u m e n t s , a n d is s t r o n g l y a g a i n s t doc-u n d e r v a l doc-u i n g t h e m , b doc-u t t o h i m t h e i r i m p o r t a n c e lies p r i n c i p a l l y in t h e f a c t t h a t t h e y " d e s c r i b e t h e c o n d i t i o n s u n d e r w h i c h l i t e r a t u r e w a s s t u d i e d a n d c o p i e d " . O n l y t h e l a s t c h a p t e r of t h e b o o k , h e a d e d Types of Papyrus Document, is d e v o t e d t o t h e d o c u m e n t a r y p a p y r i t h e m s e l v e s
-— even t h e title of t h e c h a p t e r indicating t h e limitation of t h e subject (this does n o t hinder t h e reader f r o m f i n d i n g therein v e r y useful r e m a r k s which are also v e r y precious f r o m t h e point of view of m e t h o d — for instance, t h e a u t h o r draws a t t e n t i o n t o t h e need for caution when drawing conclusions f r o m f r a g m e n -t a r i l y preserved documen-ts, d r a f -t documen-ts, or documen-ts whose charac-ter is n o t exactly k n o w n , etc.). I n his Preface t o Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient
World, Professor T u r n e r clearly states t h a t his book will be a s t u d y of Greek books a n d their various forms in ancient times, whereas in his Preface t o t h e Greek Papyri he is less explicit, so readers who are either historians or jurists m a y be a little disappointed in n o t f i n d i n g all t h e y expected in t h a t book. A few words of additional explanation would no d o u b t h a v e r e m o v e d this m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g , a n d would h a v e p u t t h e r e a d e r in a position to assess t h e book according t o t h e intentions of t h e a u t h o r .
Greek Papyri a n d Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World m a k e fascinating reading. Despite t h e immense erudition of t h e a u t h o r , t h e y read easily, which is also due in no small p a r t t o his individual style, which is so s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d t h a t t h e reader has t h e impression t h a t t h e a u t h o r is c h a t t i n g to him.
T h e f i r s t c h a p t e r in Greek Papyri provides an excellent c o m p e n d i u m of all we know a b o u t t h e writing materials of A n t i q u i t y , a b o u t writing tools, and t h e t y p e s of books a n d ways of producing t h e m . This c h a p t e r is i m p l e m e n t e d t o a large e x t e n t b y t h e i n t r o d u c t o r y essay t o Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World, where we find additional i n f o r m a t i o n and original observations on, for example, w h a t t h e writer does, a b o u t his various a t t i t u d e s , his tools, t h e w a y he w r o t e , t h e a r r a n g e m e n t of t h e t e x t in t h e book, p u n c t u a t i o n , etc. Much of this i n f o r m a t i o n is here given for t h e f i r s t t i m e in a convenient, h a n d y w a y . Professor T u r n e r also devotes considerable space t o defining " b o o k - h a n d " precisely. H e provides us w i t h a definition which, we hope, will finally p u t an end to t h e terminological inexactitudes in this m a t t e r . H e writes : " B o o k - h a n d is a h a n d w r i t i n g in capitals strictly or roughly bilinear, usually m a d e slowly" (Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World, p . 4). One v i r t u e of this definition is t h a t it permits us t o include as b o o k - h a n d t h e script of some documents such as t h e p r i v a t e l e t t e r reproduced on P l a t e 68. T h e unique p h o t o g r a p h s 1—3 (showing t h e p r o d u c t i o n of papyrus!) a n d 6—10, all in Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World, are invaluable illustrations t o Chapter I of Greek Papyri.
T h e n e x t t w o chapters of Greek Papyri are t a k e n u p w i t h t h e history of t h e discovery of papyri. T h e resulting conclusions are presented in Chapter I V where Professor T u r n e r studies t h e geographical distribution of t h e f i n d s , as well as t h e place of origin a n d place of writing of t h e documents (very im-p o r t a n t observations!). T h e a u t h o r ' s r e m a r k s on t e x t s which originated outside E g y p t b u t were discovered there, his account of t h e difficulties in establishing t h e i r origin (for instance see his interesting c o m m e n t s on t h e t e x t s f r o m
Pano-polis, p p . 52—53), a n d his n o t e s o n t h e i m p o r t a n c e of t h e so-called a r c h i v e s a r e all o u t s t a n d i n g f e a t u r e s of t h i s c h a p t e r .
C h a p t e r У (Ηοιν a Papyrus Text Is Edited) is a n especially f a s c i n a t i n g one, i n v a r i o u s p a r t s of w h i c h Ave c a t c h i n t r i g u i n g glimpses of t h e p e r s o n a l i t y of t h e a u t h o r . W e l e a r n a b o u t t h e s t o c k - i n - t r a d e of t h e p a p y r o l o g i s t - e d i t o r . W e are t o l d a b o u t his m e t h o d of w o r k , a n d a b o u t t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s a n d p i t f a l l s . B e f o r e T u r n e r a n d H . C. Υ o u t i e n o o t h e r g r e a t p a p y r o l o g i s t h a s b e e n willing a n d a b l e t o l e t u s i n t o t h e secrets of his w o r k ! I t s h o u l d b e a d d e d t h a t a u t h o r ' s c o m m e n t s h e r e o n t h e d a t i n g of t h e p a p y r u s m a n u s c r i p t s a r e e x p a n d e d in his i n t r o d u c t o r y e s s a y t o Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World ( p p . 21—24), w h e r e i n c i d e n t a l l y w e also f i n d a n e x t r e m e l y i n t e r e s t i n g c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of b o o k -h a n d s u s e d i n t -h e 1st t o 4 t -h c e n t u r i e s A . D .
C h a p t e r V I is c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e p e o p l e w h o o w n e d t h e p a p y r i i n a n t i q -u i t y (it s h o -u l d b e n o t e d t h a t b y " p a p y r i " t h e a -u t h o r h e r e m e a n s t h e s e b o o k s , l a r g e or small f r a g m e n t s of w h i c h w e r e f o u n d in t h e s a n d of t h e E g y p t i a n d e s e r t ) . T h e s e c o n d p a r t of t h i s c h a p t e r , h e a d e d The Evidence from Palaeo-graphy, is especially w o r t h y of a t t e n t i o n , f o r i n it P r o f e s s o r T u r n e r dif-f e r e n t i a t e s b e t w e e n " s c h o o l h a n d s " a n d " s c h o l a r s ' t e x t s " . T h i s d i s t i n c t i o n is v e r y i m p o r t a n t w h e n c o n s i d e r i n g t h e v a l u e of a g i v e n m a n u s c r i p t (for illustra-t i o n s of " s c h o o l - h a n d s " see f o r i n s illustra-t a n c e P l a illustra-t e s 4 a n d 5 i n Greek Manuscripillustra-ts of the Ancient World).
C h a p t e r V I I of t h e b o o k Greek Papyri b e a r s t h e r a t h e r g e n e r a l t i t l e Papyri and Greek Literature. I n t h e e a r l y p a r t of t h i s c h a p t e r t h e a u t h o r d e m o n s t r a t e s t h e i m p o r t a n c e of t h e n e w t e x t s of t h e classics. H e s a y s t h e r e o n p p . 9 8 — 9 9 : " T h e r e a s o n p a r excellence w h y p a p y r u s f i n d s , e v e n w h e n f r a g m e n t a r y , h a v e b e e n so f r u i t f u l is t h a t t h e y h a v e g i v e n u s a n e w c o n c e p t i o n of t h e w a y t h e s e t e x t s h a v e c o m e d o w n t o u s . W e c a n n o w f o r m a n i d e a of w h a t a n c i e n t b o o k s w e r e l i k e " . T h i s w h o l e c h a p t e r is r e a l l y a d e v e l o p m e n t of t h i s s e n t e n c e , a n d t h e b o o k Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World is its s p l e n d i d i l l u s t r a t i o n . T h e i l l u m i n a t i n g c o m m e n t s on t h e e d i t i o n a n d hypomnema, a n d likewise t h e c o n t e n t s of t h e hypomnemata, a r e m a d e c l e a r e r b y t h e a u t h o r ' s d e t a i l e d discus-sion of t h e l e c t i o n a l signs in his i n t r o d u c t o r y e s s a y t o Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World, a n d b y t h e s p l e n d i d p h o t o g r a p h s in t h a t b o o k (e.g. P l a t e s 47, 59, 61). A v e r y i m p o r t a n t p o i n t f o r f u t u r e s c h o l a r s is t h e d i s t i n c t i o n t h e a u t h o r h a s d r a w n b e t w e e n hypomnemata ( c o m m e n t a r i e s ) a n d syngrammata ( m o n o -g r a p h s ) , as well as b e t w e e n scholia a n d h y p o m n e m a t a . T h e c o n s e q u e n c e s of all t h e s e p o i n t s f o r t e x t u a l c r i t i c i s m a r e c o n v e n i e n t l y s u m m e d u p in t h e Posts-cript: Greek Papyri and Textual Criticism.
Greek Papyri c o n c l u d e s w i t h a v e r y u s e f u l discussion of t h e p r i n c i p a l e d i t i o n s of p a p y r i . A list is g i v e n of t h e s e e d i t i o n s , c o n t a i n i n g all t h e a b b r e v i a t i o n s c u r r e n t l y u s e d .
v o l u m e t o Greek Papyri, b u t is also in its o w n r i g h t a s u p e r b p a l a e o g r a p h i c a l b u m c o n t a i n i n g n u m e r o u s r e p r o d u c t i o n s of i n t e r e s t i n g m a n u s c r i p t s t h a t h a v e s e l d o m , a n d i n s o m e cases n e v e r , b e e n r e p r o d u c e d b e f o r e ( a p a r t f r o m t h e p h o t o g r a p h s m e n t i o n e d a b o v e , see also, e.g. P l a t e s 25, 46, 51, 57, 68, 69, 72). T h e o n l y o b j e c t i o n t h a t m i g h t b e r a i s e d is t h a t t h e p l a t e s a r e n o t a r r a n g e d i n chro-nological o r d e r ( t h e Chrochro-nological Table of Manuscripts g i v e n o n p . 127 c a n n o t r e p l a c e it). E v e n if w e c o n c e d e t h a t i t w a s r i g h t t o a r r a n g e t h e p l a t e s a c c o r d i n g t o l i t e r a r y g e n r e s , i t m i g h t p e r h a p s h a v e b e e n b e t t e r t o k e e p t o a c h r o n o l o g i c a l s e q u e n c e w i t h i n e a c h g e n r e , i n s t e a d of a r r a n g i n g t h e m a n u s c r i p t s a c c o r d i n g t o a u t h o r . T h e i n c l u s i o n , in t h e i l l u s t r a t i o n s , of as m u c h as possible of t h e u n w r i t t e n a r e a s of t h e originals is a c o m p l e t e i n n o v a t i o n , a n d is m o s t u s e f u l as i t gives t h e r e a d e r a n i d e a of t h e p h y s i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of t h e b o o k . A n i n v a l u a b l e f e a t u r e of t h e b o o k r e v i e w e d h e r e is t h e a m p l e i n d e x giving p a l a e o g r a p h i c a l t e r m s a n d p o i n t s of s c r i b a l p r a c t i c e . T h e s e a r e discussed b o t h in t h e Introduction a n d i n t h e s h o r t d e s c r i p t i o n s of t h e P l a t e s , w h i c h are a r e a l t r e a s u r e - s t o r e of i m p o r t a n t c o m m e n t s , o b s e r v a t i o n s a n d i n f o r m a t i o n . All i n all, t h e s e t w o b o o k s b y P r o f e s s o r T u r n e r c o n s t i t u t e a u n i q u e , m a s t e r l y i n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e w o r l d of l i t e r a r y p a p y r i . [ W a r s z a w a ] Anna Świderek
D o r o t h y J . C r a w f o r d, Kerkeosiris, an Egyptian Village in the Ptolemaic Period, Cambridge Classical Studies, C a m b r i d g e , a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s 1971, p p . 2 3 8 .
T h i s b o o k b y Mrs C r a w f o r d is n o t o n l y v a l u a b l e f o r i t s s u b j e c t - m a t t e r , b u t also i n t e r e s t i n g a n d i n s t r u c t i v e as r e g a r d s m e t h o d as well. A l t h o u g h t h e a u t h o r t a k e s as h e r s t a r t i n g p o i n t t h e v e r y w e l l - k n o w n d o c u m e n t s f r o m t h e a r c h i v e of M e n c h e s , village scribe of K e r k e o s i r i s f r o m 1 2 0 — 1 1 1 B.C., n e v e r t h e l e s s she m a k e s a n original c o n t r i b u t i o n (following t h e line i n d i c a t e d i n t h e Preface, p . X I , a n d t h e Introduction, p . 1) b y r e l a t i n g t h e m t o t h e b r o a d c o n t e x t of t h e a n c i e n t E g y p t i a n t r a d i t i o n s a n d t h e e n t i r e h i s t o r y of P t o l e m a i c E g y p t . O w i n g t o t h e s y s t e m a t i c a p p l i c a t i o n of t h i s m e t h o d , t h i s b o o k is n o t a m e r e agglo-m e r a t i o n of a r t i f i c i a l l y i s o l a t e d f a c t s a b o u t K e r k e o s i r i s , b u t a t r u e ( a l t h o u g h of c o u r s e n o t e x h a u s t i v e ) a c c o u n t of life i n t h e E g y p t i a n c o u n t r y s i d e d u r i n g t h e reigns of t h e P t o l e m i e s , w h e n t h e old w a s i n t e r t w i n e d a t e v e r y s t e p w i t h t h e n e w , a n d n o village w a s i n s i g n i f i c a n t e n o u g h t o b e c u t off c o m p l e t e l y f r o m t h e n e i g h b o u r i n g villages, of f r o m A l e x a n d r i a , or f r o m t h e r e s t of t h e c o u n t r y .
