Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/RICH-2K/Preface to RICH-1849

The following is the original preface to the 1849-edition of Anthony Rich's Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon.

Original Preface

A very considerable portion of the materials comprised in the present volume, were collected, for my own instruction and amusement, during a protracted residence of seven years in the central and southern parts of Italy. To a person who arrives there fresh from the ordinary studies of a public school and college, with the advantage of possessing a competent skill in the practice of drawing, the collections of antiquities naturally become a paramount source of attraction, and suggest various matters for reflection, independent of the influence they possess as beautiful productions of art. He will perceive many particulars which escape the general observer, but tending to elucidate numerous subjects connected with his previous studies, and explaining to him what had hitherto been involved in complete mystery, or only seen at a distance through the dim, and often fallacious, haze of a fanciful imagination. Observing, for instance, the costume represented in painting and sculpture, and entering upon an examination of its details, he detects a great number of different articles, clearly distinct in form, character, and method of arrangement, some of which readily explain themselves, and suggest at once their classic names, previously, however, only known by rote. Others again present themselves which he feels a difficulty in accounting for,—how they were called, what was their special use, what constituted the precise points of difference, between them and others of nearly similar appearance, and what were the distinctive classic terms by which each was discriminated. It must be apparent, as these differences exist in the objects themselves, that they would be distinguished in the language of the people who used them; or, if the verbal differences were already known, it would be natural to expect that an exemplification, in proof of the fact, would be found amongst the artistic representations of them. When these are discovered, a sudden light would flash upon the mind, dispelling doubts, creating conviction, and enabling the observer to say with self-satisfaction,—this was called by such a name, that was employed in such a manner, now I see the meaning of such a passage, allusion, or expression. It was from the frequent experience of such impressions that the idea suggested itself to me of making a drawing or a note of every thing which fell under my observation, that would help to illustrate the language or manners of the classic ages. I read their authors on the spot, and consulted the numerous antiquarian treatises devoted to the explanation of such matters, by which means my knowledge imperceptibly increased in accuracy and amount, till the contents of my note-book and portfolio acquired something like the dimensions of the present volume, and contained at that time (for I am referring to a period long since passed) a quantity of information, which would then have been entirely new to English literature. Latterly, however, there has been a general disposition amongst us to recur back and investigate the customs of by-gone ages, whether of our own or other nations; and several German, as well as English, scholars, who have visited or resided in Italy, have directed their researches more especially to classical antiquities. But the greater portion of their works is devoted to investigations respecting the political institutions of the ancients, comparatively little attention being bestowed upon social manners and every-day life, which it is especially the aim of these pages to describe and depict; and no attempt has yet been made to illustrate systematically, and word by word, the language of ancient literature by the works of ancient art. Hence I have been induced to venture upon the experiment of putting my fragments together, with the hope of being able to fill up, in a useful and agreeable manner, the space left void, or but cursorily sketched over in the pages of larger and more learned productions.

From what has been said, the nature of the work may be readily conceived. In the first place, to define the true meaning of all the terms, technical or otherwise, expressive of any particular object, artificial production, manual operation, &c., which can be submitted to ocular inspection. Secondly, to impart a distinct notion of that meaning, by exhibiting a virtual representation of the thing itself, faithfully copied from some classic original, thus presenting the same forms as the ancients were accustomed to look upon, and suggestive of the same ideas as they themselves conceived. And lastly, to furnish a general knowledge of the social customs, and every-day life, of the Romans and Greeks, in the shape of a vocabulary, containing all the written terms which have reference to such matters; illustrated by a series of pictures, after their own designs, of the dress they wore, the houses they lived in, the utensils they used, or the pursuits they followed, by which we may be said to acquire a sort of personal acquaintance with the people themselves, and to see them, as it were, in a glass, under the genuine characters, and familiar aspects, which they presented to one another. For this purpose an Index is added at the end of the volume, forming a systematic table of contents to the whole, and containing separate lists of all the words relating to any given subject classed under distinct heads, so that by referring in the consecutive order there set out to the explanations given under each, all that relates to any particular topic will be concentrated under one view, as if written in a single article, thus affording a comprehensive insight into the whole matter, as well as a knowledge of the various classical terms connected with it, and the distinctions or affinities between such of them as are allied in sense, though not actually synonymous.

The Latin language, in preference to the Greek, is taken as a basis, for obvious reasons; being more generally known, it affords a more general scope and interest to the work. But the Greek synonymes, when sufficiently identical, are inserted in a bracket by the side of the leading words, and any special difference between the Greek and Roman usages is pointed out in the text; and, an Alphabetical Index of the Greek words, with their Latin synonymes, is subjoined, which will show the corresponding usages of the two languages in juxtaposition, and afford the means of referring to the Greek words as readily as if they had been inserted alphabetically in the body of the volume. At the same time it is not professed, nor was it ever intended, to make so complete an analysis of the Greek language as of the Latin; nor are the Greek authorities regularly cited except in particular cases, where their assistance was necessary; but as nothing really essential is omitted, those who have mastered what is here contained, will, I apprehend, find themselves able to supply all that is needful out of the knowledge already acquired.

In selecting written authorities, the plan pursued has always been to prefer, where suitable, the same passages as those usually quoted in the dictionaries; and to place them immediately after the assumption they are intended to support, inserted in brackets, and without interrupting the text, in order that the book might accommodate itself to the use of all who feel an interest in the subjects it treats of, not as classical students only, but as inquirers after popular knowledge. As a general rule, too, when a word occurs incidentally in any author belonging to the flourishing age of literature, but the precise character of the object expressed by it is ascertained from descriptions or inferences found in writings of a much later period, both passages are referred to; the one to establish the genuine and early usage of the term, the other to decide the proper interpretation belonging to it. But where words are of such common occurrence, and their meanings so generally known and admitted as not to require proof, it has been thought sufficient merely to mention the names of some of the best authors where they are found, without specifying any particular passages.

It is often impossible to ascertain the exact sense of many terms, and the precise character of the objects designated by them, without having recourse to the details and evidence afforded by authors of the inferior periods of classic literature. Hence the grammarians, scholiasts, and inscriptions are frequently appealed to; not as tests of good Latinity, nor of correct etymology, nor, indeed, as unerring guides, but as an available resource of certain value, where their testimony is confirmed by other evidence, especially that afforded by artistic respresentations; for if nothing but written proofs from the best periods of literature are to be admitted as valid, the very absence of these will often produce impressions just as erroneous respecting the customs of antiquity, as the opposite fault of accepting every thing which is written, without submitting it to the ordeal of a strict and impartial investigation. To cite an example from one of many others: Beckmann, in most respects an extremely estimable authority, gives it as his opinion, in the History of Inventions, that presses for cloth were not invented until the tenth century; because, as he states, he had not met with any passage in which such machines were mentioned. But when the fulling establishment was excavated at Pompeii, (which city was overwhelmed by the eurption of A. D. 79), the representation of a cloth-press, exactly similar in construction to those now in use, was discovered amongst other pictures exhibiting different processes of the trade, upon a pilaster of the building; and Ammianus Marcellinus, though a late writer as regards Latinity, yet considerably anterior to the period fixed by Beckmann, for he lived in the fourth century, distinctly gives the name pressorium to a contrivance of the kind in question. At the same time, it is not to be denied that due caution, and a fitting degree of critical scepticism, ought to be exerted upon all occasions, that one may not be induced to give out what is only doubtful as a certainty, or to invest mere fancies with the air of established truths. With this conviction I have felt it a paramount duty to trace regularly all the steps for the conclusions arrived at; citing impartially the reasons and authorities; never attempting to speak positively, unless the grounds appeared to warrant it; always noting the points which admitted of doubt; and in cases where the balance of authority seemed undecided, and the opinions of the learned not agreed, I have faithfully produced both sides of the argument, and the evidence in support of each.

It is scarcely necessary to enlarge upon the advantage of using the products of art as a means of interpreting a written language. A description in words, when sufficiently clear and circumstantial, may convey all that is wished for; and yet the impression will become more decided by inspection of a virtual representation of the thing itself. Nor is the authority justly due to the one, more important than that which ought to be allowed to the other. What is written with the pen is neither clearer, truer, nor more self-convincing than what is written with the pencil or the chisel. On the contrary, the latter will often have the advantage. But when the two are brought to bear upon each other, as here, reflecting mutual lights, supplying alternate deficiencies, and supporting each other by the interchange of the corresponding evidence, it is then that the pictorial description becomes truly valuable as the best possible means for producing accurate perceptions, and elucidating points of difficulty by a process which gains conviction at once. Take, for example, the expressions hasta amentata and hasta ansata, which are met with as descriptive of some peculiar kind of spears; and both of which are set down as synonymous terms in the dictionaries, although the elementary notions contained in the respective adjectives are entirely distinct,—the substantive amentum implying something in the nature of a straight thong; the other, ansa, something bent in the form of a loop or handle. Consequently, the language itself indicates that the two objects are not identical; but the distinction could not have been positively established, and probably might never have been ascertained, but for the discovery of two ancient designs,—the one upon a Greek vase, which exhibits a spear with a straight thong (amentum) attached to the shaft, as shown by the wood-cut, p. 25;—the other, on the walls of a tomb at Pæstum, which exhibits a spear with a semicircular or looped handle (ansa) affixed to its shaft, through which the hand is inserted, as shown by the wood-cut, p. 389. Again, to mark the affinities between allied terms and the objects they represent, in both languages, but which, without a knowledge of the ancient forms possessed by those objects, would be liable to receive an erroneous, or at least imperfect, interpretation; take the Latin words, ancon, ansa, ancile, anquina, and the Greek, ἀγκών, ἀγκύλη, ἀγκοίνη. All these contain the same elementary notion, that of a bend or hollow, such as is produced by the elbow-joint; and it will be perceived by referring to the different objects represented under each of these words, that this peculiar property constitutes a leading feature in all of them, however varied in other respects their general forms and uses may be. In the language of poetry, more especially, which frequently receives its charm from some illustrative epithet suggested by the productions of art, it is obvious that the particular beauty of many expressions will be lost or imperfectly appreciated, unless we too possess a just knowledge of the forms which the poet had in his mind, when he penned the passage.

With respect to the illustrations, which form the distinguishing feature of the book, the main conditions required are, that they shall be derived from authentic originals, executed with fidelity, and sufficiently distinct in detail to exhibit without confusion the peculiar points which they are intended to exemplify.

With regard to the authenticity of the illustrations, I may state that there are few of which I have not myself personally inspected the originals. But in every case where a drawing has been copied at second hand, that is, from an old book or engraving, or whenever there has appeared to be a possibility that the copy from which it is taken might have been incorrectly excecuted, or made up in any way; whenever, in short, I had not the means within my own knowledge of vouching for its truthfulness, I have quoted the work from which my illustration is taken, so as to afford at least a responsible authority for the design. In other cases I have thought it sufficient merely to mention the nature of the production which furnished an original for each illustration, whether a painting, statue, engraved gem, &c.; as it has been a constant object throughout to keep the volume within the smallest possible limits consistent with a due execution of the task undertaken. Of the whole number of wood-cuts, representing nearly two thousand different objects, only fifty are selected from other than Greek or Roman originals. One-half of these are drawn from the antiquities of Egypt, and are produced without hesitation because they establish the familiar use of certain articles long before the historical commencement of authentic history in Europe; but, as we know how much the Greeks borrowed from Egypt, and the intercourse which took place between the Romans and that people, they may be safely appealed to as inventions handed down to the classic ages from a more remote period. Twelve are from originals still met with in actual use, chiefly in Asia, Greece, or Italy,— countries all of which have retained much of their primitive manners, and many of the identical forms employed by their early ancestors almost without variation. Three are of Chinese original; inserted because they serve to explain certain terms not otherwise easily intelligible, nor correctly understood. But it may be remarked that many customs and articles now peculiar to that primitive people, as seen in the drawings made by travellers, and by collections exhibited in this country, bear a marked resemblence to the practice and forms in use amongst the classic inhabitants of Greece and Italy; while the fact that real porcelain bottles with Chinese letters upon them have been found in several of the oldest tombs in Egypt, testifies that an early intercourse must have existed, in some shape or other, between those countries. Nine only of the engravings are not copied from any actual original, but are composed in accordance with written texts, for the purpose of giving a clear and definite notion of certain terms more readily explained by a diagram than by description—a kind of knowledge which it is one of the principal objects of these pages to supply; but, to prevent misapprehension, the circumstance of their being compositions is mentioned, together with the name of the scholar or editor who designed them.

As regards fidelity of execution, an essential requisite in matters of this nature, no pains have been spared to attain the end. Many of the drawings were made upon the wood from designs or tracings executed by myself; all have been corrected on the block by the draughtsman under my directions, or by my own hand, when necessary; and by the engraver, after cutting, from proofs retouched by myself, or under my orders.

As regards precision and clearness of detail, some allowance must be made in consideration of the very reduced size of the drawings, which in a work intended for utility not luxury, and so copiously illustrated as the present, becomes a law of necessity. Small, however, as they are, if the reader will only take the trouble of examining closely the particulars pointed out by the text to his attention, he will find that they seldom fail in telling their own tale—if not at the first casual glance, at all events after a little practice, and when his mind has become familiarised with the precise points and distinctions intended to be conveyed. But, wherever it has struck me that any indistinctness prevailed, either in consequence of want of precision in the drawing, or confusion from the crowding of unnecessary lines, I have cited some other instance where a larger or more perfect representation of the object is engraved, and which would show it more distinctly.

In selecting illustrations, it has been my constant aim to produce such as are least common or hacknied, rather than those which may be seen, or are usually referred to, in other works which touch upon similar subjects; for by this means the aggregate amount of pictorial authorities forming a common stock of available reference, is both varied and increased. But in cases where only a single specimen is known to exist, there is no alternative but to reproduce it; or where, amongst several, one is so much more complete and definite in details, that it furnishes a better and more satisfactory illustration than any of the rest, like what is termed a locus classicus in literature, I have felt it right to insert that one, since every design is used as a practical commentary upon the meaning of words, addressed to the mind through the eyesight, and not as a pretty picture for the mere embellishment of a printed page.

It only remains to explain the marks of accentuation inserted for the purpose of distinguishing the correct pronunciation of the Latin words for those who might require such assistance, though it must be acknowledged that every attempt of the kind will be liable to some objection or other. In the commencement I placed a mark after an open vowel, or after the consonant which follows a close one, according to our ordinary manner of pronunciation. But it subsequently occurred to me that the prosody might be indicated, as well as the pronunciation at the same time, by alway placing the mark after a long vowel, as li'niger, li'nea, lori'ca, and after the consonant which follows a short one, as lan'ius, lit'uus, lit'icen; which method has been systematically adopted throughout the latter half of the volume.

December, 1848.

Anthony Rich.