The Fables of Phaedrus

Abstract

The full title is The Fables of Phaedrus. Literally Translated into English Prose with Notes by Henry Thomas Riley, B.A., Late Scholar of Clare Hall, Cambridge. To Which Is Added a Metrical Translation of Phaedrus, by Christopher Smart, A.M. The versions used here appeared first, I believe, in The Comedies of Terence, and the Fables of Phaedrus from 1853. That is the version I have. The version used in this paperback comes from an edition of 1887 unknown to me and perhaps not including Terence's comedies. There is a detailed T of C for the prose portion of this book, but there seems to be none for the verse portion. The T of C in the 1853 handled both portions. The prose version, here as there, adds new fables attributed to Phaedrus and Aesopian fables from unknown authors. I wrote then that a random check finds the verse translations good. Here the verse translations are set off by being done completely in capital letters. This seems to be one of those instant reprint books. One looks for a long time before finding where the publisher is situated. The date of publication seems to show that it was printed for this very order, since it is two days before the book was received! The cover has borrowed a picture of woodland animals; has it any relevance to fables? Welcome to the new world of publishing!