NOTICE OF Q. HORATII FLACCI OPERA, Cum variis Lectionibus, notis Variorum, et Indice locupletissimo. Tom. II. Londini. WHEN this splendid edition of Horace was first presented to our view, we exclaimed, in the words of Catullus, "Chartæ regiæ, novi libri, Novi umbilici, lora rubra, membrana Directa plumbo, et pumice omnia æquata." The brightness of the paper, the amplitude of the margin, and the elegance of the type displayed in this work, are nearly unrivalled. They do honour to the taste and liberality of the editors. They show that, by encouragement and exertion, the art of printing is in a high and progressive state of improvement, and we are confident that many of our readers will be eager to purchase an edition which has so many recommendations from novelty and magnificence. A variorum edition of Horace has been long among the desiderata of literature, and therefore great commendation is due to the enterprizing spirit which produced the work now under our considera tion. It is well known that scholars of the first eminence have often been employed in preparing editions of this kind. Among other instances, we are indebted to J. G. Grævius for the variorum editions of Justin and Suetonius; to J. F. Gronovius for those of Plautus and Livy; to Peter Burman for those of Quintilian and Ovid. But similar publications have often been undertaken with zeal, and executed with success, by persons of less intellectual prowess, and less literary celebrity, than the critics whom we have just now enumerated. If an editor unites a large share of accuracy even with a moderate portion of erudition; if he collects materials with industry, and uses them with judgment; if he distinguishes between ingenuity and refinement, and separates useful information from ostentatious pedantry, he will have a claim to public favour, though he should not possess the exquisite taste of a Heyne, the profound erudition of a Hemsterhuis, or the keen penetration of a Porson. The writings of Horace are familiar to us from our earliest boyhood. They carry with them attractions which are felt in every period of life, and almost every rank of society. They charm alike by the harmony of the numbers, and the purity of the diction. They exhilarate the gay and interest the serious, according to the different kinds of subjects upon which the poet is employed. Professing neither the precision of analysis, nor the copiousness of system, they have advantages, which, among the ordinary classes of writers, analysis and system rarely attain. They exhibit human imperfections |