Delphin Classics
Encyclopedia
The Delphin Classics was an edition of the Latin
classics, intended to be comprehensive, which was originally created in the 17th century.
The 25 volumes were created in the 1670s for the Louis, le Grand Dauphin, heir of Louis XIV
(Delphin is the adjective derived from dauphin), and were written in Latin. Thirty-nine scholars contributed to the series, which was edited by Pierre Huet
, with assistance from several co-editors including Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
and Ann Dacier
. Each work was accompanied by a Latin commentary, ordo verborum, and verbal index. The editors added many notes and appendixes.
The original volumes have each an engraving of Arion
and the Dolphin, and the appropriate inscription in usum serenissimi Delphini.
Later editions of Latin and Greek
classics were edited in England by George Dyer (poet), who produced 143 volumes. They are no longer current.
There is a reference to them in Part I, Chapter 5 of Thomas Hardy
's Jude the Obscure
, where young Jude, trying to educate himself by reading while delivering bread from a horse and cart, "plunge[s] into the simpler passages from Caesar
, Virgil
, or Horace
[. . .] The only copies he had been able to lay hands on were old Delphin editions, because they were superseded, and therefore cheap. But, bad for idle school-boys, it did so happen that they were passably good for him."
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
classics, intended to be comprehensive, which was originally created in the 17th century.
The 25 volumes were created in the 1670s for the Louis, le Grand Dauphin, heir of Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
(Delphin is the adjective derived from dauphin), and were written in Latin. Thirty-nine scholars contributed to the series, which was edited by Pierre Huet
Pierre Daniel Huet
Pierre Daniel Huet was a French churchman and scholar, editor of the Delphin Classics, founder of the Academie du Physique in Caen and Bishop of Soissons from 1685 to 1689 and afterwards of Avranches.-Life:...
, with assistance from several co-editors including Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet was a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses. He has been considered by many to be one of the most brilliant orators of all time and a masterly French stylist....
and Ann Dacier
Anne Lefèvre
Anne Le Fèvre Dacier , better known during her lifetime as Madame Dacier, was a French scholar and translator of the classics....
. Each work was accompanied by a Latin commentary, ordo verborum, and verbal index. The editors added many notes and appendixes.
The original volumes have each an engraving of Arion
Arion
Arion was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb: "As a literary composition for chorus dithyramb was the creation of Arion of Corinth," The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant of Corinth...
and the Dolphin, and the appropriate inscription in usum serenissimi Delphini.
Later editions of Latin and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
classics were edited in England by George Dyer (poet), who produced 143 volumes. They are no longer current.
There is a reference to them in Part I, Chapter 5 of Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
's Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure, the last of Thomas Hardy's novels, began as a magazine serial and was first published in book form in 1895. The book was burned publicly by William Walsham How, Bishop of Wakefield, in that same year. Its hero, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man who dreams of becoming a...
, where young Jude, trying to educate himself by reading while delivering bread from a horse and cart, "plunge[s] into the simpler passages from Caesar
Caesar
-People:* Julius Caesar , Roman general and dictator* Augustus Caesar , adoptive son of the above and first Roman Emperor* Gaius Julius Caesar , father of the dictator...
, Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
, or Horace
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
[. . .] The only copies he had been able to lay hands on were old Delphin editions, because they were superseded, and therefore cheap. But, bad for idle school-boys, it did so happen that they were passably good for him."