good Budé editions?

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helios523
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good Budé editions?

Post by helios523 »

Greetings everyone,

I'm visiting Paris for a few days next month and plan to visit some second-hand bookstores to buy (among other things) some essential French scholarship on classics and standard editions of classical texts.

So: are there some Greek and Latin authors or texts for whom Budé provides particularly good editions? Are there particular texts for which getting a Budé makes more sense than getting an OCT or Teubner?

Thank you very much for your thoughts!

mwh
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Re: good Budé editions?

Post by mwh »

Heliodorus, Apollonius Rhodius. These are the only two I can think of offhand.

Good hunting. See you in Paris!

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Paul Derouda
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Re: good Budé editions?

Post by Paul Derouda »

It really depends what you're after. I think generally speaking most "standard" editions are either OCT or Teubner. Most Budé texts that may be considered standard are probable rather recent (after 1970??) editions of rather obscure authors. I've read their Apollonios Rhodios, which I think is still considered "standard", and I suppose it also fits well into that category (i.e. "rather obscure"). I can't name any other off hand, but like I said, obscure...

I think the Budé Thucydides is considered good, though I haven't read much of it myself. I think Alberti's edition from an Italian publishing house is "the" standard edition, but the Budé comes second with notes by a great French scholar, Jacqueline de Romilly. I'd certainly buy a copy myself if I found a nice one.

Many Budés are good without being even close to "standard". If you just want a nice Greek text with a nice translation, like a Loeb, that's ok! Unlike older Loebs, older Budés were not bowdlerized, so even their oldish Aristophanes are quite useful. (Personally, I often have two translations at hand when reading a difficult text - one in English and one if French. Translations into two different languages look at the original text from different angles.) For instance, I don't think anyone considers the Budé Herodotus standard, but I've still found it very helpful.

One thing: avoid the Budé Odyssey like the plague.

Anything written by Pierre Chantraine is probably worth it, especially his Grammaire Homérique (his etymological dictionary is too heavy if you're traveling by plane though).

Could you please post here after you trip and tell us if you found some good bookstores you can recommend? I might travel to Paris one day myself...

Timothée
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Re: good Budé editions?

Post by Timothée »

I think the Homer Paul is warning against is by Paul Mazon. Mazon has also written an introduction to Homer in Les belles lettres. (Chantraine has contributed to the Homeric Budés in some way.) For Budé Chantraine has edited Xenophon’s Oeconomicus and Arrian’s Indica, but I can’t say on which place they stand in competition against other editions.

Even though he doesn’t remember, elsewhere on these fora mwh has said that for Memorabilia the Budé is the best edition.

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Paul Derouda
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Re: good Budé editions?

Post by Paul Derouda »

Timothée wrote:I think the Homer Paul is warning against is by Paul Mazon. Mazon has also written an introduction to Homer in Les belles lettres.
No, Paul Mazon edited the Iliad, which isn't a particularly bad edition, although not particularly good either. The Odyssey is by Victor Bérard; it's a mess, with long sections of the text transposed and otherwise mutilated in accordance to the whim of the editor.

helios523
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Re: good Budé editions?

Post by helios523 »

Many thanks to you all for these very helpful suggestions! Will report back on what I find :)

RandyGibbons
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Re: good Budé editions?

Post by RandyGibbons »

Here's a random addition to your list, if it's not too late: I've just been reading some of the works from the Hippocratic Corpus, including On Airs, Waters, and Places. With its extensive introduction and commentary, the 1996 Βυdé (Airs, Eaux, Lieux) is by far the best edition I've found. (The 1970 German edition by Hans Diller for the Corpus Medicorum Graecorum, is an excellent critical edition, with a German translation, and it's also available online, but if I had to pick only one, I'd pick the Βυdé.)

You may want to read On Airs, Waters, and Places before your trip to Paris. Then you'll be better able to predict the kind of diseases you're most liable to get there!

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