View source for Dionysiou Longinou Peri Hupsous, Kai Talla Heuriskomena

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Dionysiou Longinou Peri Hupsous, Kai Talla Heuriskomena''}}
===by Longinus===
__NOTOC__
{{BookPageInfoBox
|imagename=LonginusDionysiouLonginou1694.jpg
|link=https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991017503589703196
|shorttitle=Dionysiou Longinou Peri Hupsous, Kai Talla Heuriskomena
|author=[[:Category:Longinus|Longinus]]
|publoc=[[:Category:Utrecht|Trajecto ad Rhenum]]
|publisher=Ex Officinâ Francisci Halma
|year=1694
|lang=Text in [[:Category:Latin|Latin]] and [[:Category:Greek|Greek]], followed by [[:Category:French|French]] translation from the Greek of ''De Sublimitate''
|pages=[26], 408, [12] 
|desc=[[:Category:Quartos|4to]] (24 cm.)
|shelf=H-4
}}[[File:DionysiouLonginouPeriHupsous1694HalfTitle.jpg|left|thumb|250px|<center>Half-title.</center>]]This Greek literary treatise ''On the Sublime'' is steeped in mystery. Not only is a third of it lost, but no one knows who wrote it nor when.<ref>"[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199548545.001.0001/acref-9780199548545-e-1836 Longī'nus on the Sublime]" in ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'', ed. by M.C. Howatson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).</ref> The author is referred to as both “Dionysius Longinus” and “Dionysius or Longinus” in various manuscripts (referred to as Longinus hereafter). Until the 1800s, it was believed to be authored by Cassius Longinus, but chronological internal evidence indicates it was written around the first century AD.<ref>Ibid.</ref> It was written as an answer to the rhetor Caecilius of Caleacte, who Longinus believes failed to properly address the importance and weight of ''pathos'' (emotional weight) in his own treatise on sublimity.<ref>"[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192801463.001.0001/acref-9780192801463-e-1305 Longīnus]" in ''Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World'', ed. by John Roberts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).</ref> Longinus addressed his work to a friend, Postumius Terentianus (likely Roman from the name) on the role of sublimity in literature.<ref>"Longī'nus on the Sublime” in ''The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature''.</ref>

Sublime can be defined as “that quality of genius in great literary works which irresistibly delights, inspires, and overwhelms the reader."<ref>"[http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780192801463.001.0001/acref-9780192801463-e-2101 sublime]" in ''Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World'', ed. by John Roberts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).</ref> It applies more to literature than natural phenomena, and to specific excerpts rather than entire works, resulting from “superhuman natural capacity…[to] lift us above our quotidian banalities and put us in touch with finer minds and, above all, with less obstructed emotions.”<ref>Ibid.</ref> ''On the Sublime'' is influential due to its analysis of poetry and prose and its reflections on writing and genius in general.<ref>"‘Longīnus’" in ''Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World''.</ref> Longinus gives many examples and non-examples of sublimity in a wide variety of literary sources, from Homer to Demosthenes to Cicero, Sappho, and even the Book of Genesis. 

{{BookPageBookplate
|imagename=DionysiouLonginouPeriHupsous1694BookplateTPV.jpg
|display=left
|caption=Armorial bookplate of Ambrose Isted, Esq<sup>r</sup>.
}}{{BookPageBookplate
|imagename=DionysiouLonginouPeriHupsous1694BookplateFPD.jpg
|display=left
|caption=Bookplate of John Bakeless, front pastedown.
}}
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
There is no doubt that George Wythe owned ''Dionysiou Longinou Peri Hupsous, Kai Talla Heuriskomena''. A copy of the 1694 edition at the Library of Congress includes Wythe's bookplate and an inscription by [[Thomas Jefferson]] on the flyleaf "The gift of a friend a few days before he died" followed by four lines of Greek. Jefferson also listed "Longinus. Gr. Lat. Tollii 4to." in his [[Jefferson Inventory|inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]], noting that he kept the volume himself. He later sold it to the Library of Congress. Both the Brown Bibliography<ref>Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433</ref> and [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s. v. "[http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe Member: George Wythe]," accessed on March 5. 2014.</ref> on LibraryThing list the 1694 edition of ''Dionysiou Longinou Peri Hupsous, Kai Talla Heuriskomena''. The Wolf Law Library purchased a copy of the same edition.

==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
Rebacked in full mottled calf. Spine features gilt lettered red leather spine label and five raised bands and gilt decorations. All edges of the binding are decorated in gilt. Includes the bookplate of John Bakeless on the front pastedown and that of Ambrose Isted with the Latin motto "Nosce te ipsum" (Know thyself). Also has the inscription, "Ambrose Isted, E Coll. Trin : Oxon, 1735" on the front free endpaper. Purchased from Elliot's Books. 

Images of the library's copy of this book are [https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/sets/72157637633353616 available on Flickr.] View the record for this book in [https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991017503589703196 William & Mary's online catalog.]
[[File:DionysiouLonginouPeriHupsous1694InscriptionFFEP.jpg|right|thumb|250px|<center>Inscription, front free endpaper.</center>]]

==See also==
<div style="overflow: hidden;">
*[[George Wythe Room]]
*[[Jefferson Inventory]]
*[[Wythe's Library]]
</div>

==References==
<div style="overflow: hidden;">
<references/>
</div>

==External Links==
Read this book in [http://books.google.com/books?id=1-UPAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover Google Books.]

[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
[[Category:Jefferson's Books]]
[[Category:Known Surviving Wythe Volumes]]
[[Category:Longinus]]
[[Category:Philosophy]]
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]

[[Category:French]]
[[Category:Greek]]
[[Category:Latin]]
[[Category:Quartos]]
[[Category:Utrecht]]