Customer Reviews

Bede: Ecclesiastical History, Books I-III (Loeb Classical Library No. 246)

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I have an older printing of this book, 1999. I like Loeb Classics because of the Latin text. I am very disappointed in the quality of the new printing, which is much reduced from the old. It is fuzzy and parts of letters are missing, making it difficult to read. The new paper is whiter in color and feels lighter weight. I liked the old heavy paper with a cream color and am frustrated with Loeb for dropping the ball on this one.

From a reader's standpoint the translation is fine, but the English might be a bit antiquated or difficult for some readers. When I chose not to buy the second volume due to the reduced quality I found the Oxford World's Classics McClure/Collins Edition to be more lively.

The Ecclesiastical History was very interesting from several standpoints. The relationship between the Church at Rome, Gaul, England, and Ireland was very interesting, as was the discussion of their respective traditions. Bede goes into detail about the controversy between the Irish church and English/Catholic church regarding Easter. His stories about the Holy Men and Women were very well written. He is an excellent teacher, the book is well constructed, and the text very self-explanatory, requiring little background knowledge.

Since there are so many of these darn things the review shall be divided into three sections. First, a brief description of the Loeb series of books and their advantages/disadvantages. Second shall be my thoughts on the author himself, his accuracy, as well as his style and the style of his translator. This is of course only my opinion and should be treated as such. The final part shall review what this particular book actually covers.

The Loeb series date back to the turn of the last century. They are designed for people with at least some knowledge of Greek or Latin. They are a sort of compromise between a straight English translation and an annotated copy of the original text. On the left page is printed the text in Greek or Latin depending on the language of the writer and on the right side is the text in English. For somebody who knows even a little Greek or Latin these texts are invaluable. You can try to read the text in the original language knowing that you can correct yourself by looking on the next page or you can read the text in translation and check the translation with the original for more detail. While some of the translations are excellent mostly they are merely serviceable since they are designed more as an aid to translation rather than a translation in themselves. Most of them follow the Greek or Latin very closely. These books are also very small, maybe just over a quarter the size of your average hardcover book. This means that you'll need to buy more than just one book to read a complete work. They are also somewhat pricey considering their size. The Loeb Collection is very large but most of the more famous works can be found in better (and cheaper) translations elsewhere. If you want to read a rarer book or read one in the original language then you can't do better than the Loeb Editions.

There are two books of Bede's Ecclesiastical History. This book is an oddity. The Loeb series really doesn't cover any other non-Roman authors. The closest it comes is covering Procopius, who wrote a recognizably Classical work in the Eastern Empire after the fall of Rome. This book was written around the year 700 (150 years after Procopius) in Anglo-Saxon England. Bede was a monk who wrote what serves as the only source for England in this period. The amount of effort that Bede put into dating everything according to the new AD system which he basically invented (or at least standardized) is extraordinary. This man had access to a LOT of source material. Whether you agree with his interpretations or not (probably not) this work represents the greatest effort of a brilliant mind. Bede's view of British history was that God punished the British for their sins by bringing in the Saxons who he then saved by sending them Saint Augustine and converting them into good Christians. This is an Ecclesiastical history which means it covers political events only superficially. There are other works by Bede although I've never seen them, but the other volume is located here.

This volume covers the early history of Britain up through the Saxon conquest. It also deals with the arrival of Augustine.