Customer Reviews

The Hellenistic Philosophers: Volume 2, Greek and Latin Texts with Notes and Bibliography

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

'The Hellenistic Philosophers, Volume 2: Greek and Latin Texts with Notes and Bibliography' by A. A. Long (ISBN-10: 0521275571} was first published by Cambridge University Press in 1987. Presumably at that time it was a real book. In other words, in keeping with the scholarly nature of its contents, it was well-printed on quality paper, had a durable cover, and was stitched so that it would open flat for ease of reference.

Sadly, the present object (which we are informed was "Transferred to digital printing in 2003" and no doubt became much cheaper to manufacture) is none of these things. The print is blurred, the paper is at best of middling quality, the paper covers are flimsy, and since it comes with a disgusting glued back it cannot be opened flat without cracking the spine. One wonders what has happened to the sense of honor, to pride in producing a well-made object, and to the desire to give the customer a handsome book at a reasonable price that would last and not disintegrate within a few years?

Although no specialist in Hellenistic philosophy, and therefore no judge of scholarship in this field, the contents of this book seem at least to me to be impeccable, of great interest, and well worth 5 stars. As a physical object, however, this book is a piece of trash that Cambridge University Press ought to be ashamed at putting out, certainly at such a ridiculously high price, and hence the single star.

I just got this work to begin a long course of research in the Hellenistic philosophers (esp. the Stoics), so I cannot speak to all the particulars, but--given the only other alternative (i.e., finding all your texts in the Loebs)--this collection of Hellenistic philosophical Greek texts appears a unique and invaluable resource. It collects all the major texts (and many minor ones) from the three schools and has them organized in a coherent (albeit topical) way.

Now, there is an excellent index to these Greek texts (which lists the texts by author, giving the author's dates as well), but *please note* that this index is *not* in this volume (vol 2)--it is in the first volume (vol 1, English translations). In my view, while this volume is excellent, I can no reason to get volume 2 by itself--you will want to purchase both books. Also, while the first volume provides some commentary, the A. A. Long's introduction is the better book for that (under the very similar title: "Hellenistic Philosophy").

Finally, one last note: if money is a major issue and the Stoics are your main concern, you may want to purchase only the first volume here and then get the Greek texts online--since the classic collection of the Greek texts of the Stoics (Arnim's "Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta") is public-domain & available for download at [] . If you are doing graduate research, you will likely need to consult Loeb or Arnim in the end anyway.

Firstly, I want to say that my current rating is based solely on my experience with ordering and obtaining the book and in no way deals with its contents since, as you'll see, I was unable to rate that. I hope to provide an updated rating before too long.

I got a book entitled "Hellenistic Philosphers, Volume 2" by Long and Sedley. When I opened it however I found it was by Frank Snowden and was about a cholera outbreak in turn of the century Naples. Talk about not being able to judge a book by its cover! It was the strangest thing I've seen in quite a while. The Snowden book was also published by Cambridge University Press and the binding is perfect/untouched. I don't know how many books were released like this but I suspect it was quite a lot. Amazon and Cambridge University Press need to know about it. If I were you I definitely wouldn't take the chance of getting this book unless I could make clear what was actually on the inside. I'm sure Snowden did a good job but the book I got is essentially useless to me.