Gradus ad Parnassum sive Novus Synonymorum, Epithetorum, et Phrasium Poeticarum Thesaurus, Elegantias, Flavissas Poëticas, Parnasssum Poëticum, Thesaurum Virgilii, Smetium, Ianuam Musarum, Alioque id Genus Libros ad Poësim Necessarios Complectens.
by Paul Aler
| Gradus ad Parnassum | ||
 at the College of William & Mary. |
||
| Author | Paul Aler | |
| Edition | Precise edition unknown | |
| Desc. | 12mo | |
Born in Luxembourg in 1656, Paul Aler joined the Jesuit order of St. Ignatius in 1676 and taught at Cologne Collegium Tricoronatum.[1] From 1713 he served as professor of philosophy and moral theology at the University of Trier.[2] He died in 1727,[3] leaving behind a number of works including Gradus ad Parnassum and more than thirteen Neo-dramas with musical sections listed on the German stage of the Society of Jesus in Aachen, Trier and Cologne.
Gradus ad Parnassum[4] was a popular schoolbook and Aler's most famous work. It featured a collection of poems written in various styles.[5] Gradus ad Parnassum was likely a revision of an earlier work, Synonymorum et Epithetorum Thesaurus, published in Paris by "P. Chastillon" in 1652.[6] Aler's version was a pedagogical work on art, literature, and music[7] likely intended for use as an aid in Greek and Latin verse composition.[8] It contains a thesaurus of vowels, synonyms, epithets, verses and phrases.[9] There have been multiple editions of Gradus ad Parnassum, including ten anonymous publications in the Dutch Republic between 1677 and 1767.[10] An 1818 version by Dr. John Carey was commonly used in schools throughout Europe and referred to as "Carey's Gradus."[11]
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "Gradus ad Parnsassum. 12mo." and kept by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson later sold two copies to the Library of Congress,[12] but neither still exists to verify Wythe's ownership or the edition. The Brown Bibliography[13] lists the 1716 London edition compiled by Paul Aler. George Wythe's Library[14] on LibraryThing states "Precise edition unknown." The Wolf Law Library has not yet purchased an edition of Gradus ad Parnassum.
See also
References
- ↑ "Aler, Paul," in McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia, ed. James Strong and John McClintock, (New York: Haper and Brothers, 1880).[1]
- ↑ VD17 - Das Verzeichnis der im deutschen Sprachraum erschienenen Drucke des 17. Jahrhunderts - 1.28 (VD17 - Das Verzeichnis der im deutschen Sprachraum erschienenen Drucke des 17. Jahrhunderts - 1.28)
- ↑ McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia, "Aler, Paul."
- ↑ The title can be translated as "a step to Parnassus," referring to a mountain in Greece whose two summits were sacred to Dionysus and Apollo. See: John Warrington, Everyman's Classical Dictionary, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd. (London, 1961). See also J. Carey, Gradus ad Parnassum (Stationers', London 1914), 404.
- ↑ VD17 - Das Verzeichnis.
- ↑ Bibliographic records for some editions of Gradus ad Parnassum in ESTC and OCLC/Worldcat include the note "Possibly a revision of an earlier work by "le P. Chastillon" entitled 'Synonymorum et epithetorum thesaurus', Paris 1652." See for example ETSC record for the 1701 ed., https://datb.cerl.org/estc/N18058, accessed January 9, 2026 and OCLC/Worldcat record no. 85878595 for the 1794 edition. See Google Books which names the publisher as Apud G. Bernandum.[2].
- ↑ Paul Begheyn SJ, Jesuit Books in the Dutch Republic and Its Generality Lands 1567-1773 : A Bibliography, (Boston: BRILL, 2014), 46. Accessed October 8, 2025. ProQuest Ebook Central.
- ↑ "Gradus" in 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, volume 12 (1911).[3]
- ↑ Cristovao S. Marinheiro, "L’Enseignement Des Humanités Au Collège De Luxembourg De 1603 à 1773 Essai d’Une Reconstitution De l’Histoire De l’Enseignement Du Latin Et De La Rhétorique à Travers Les Livres Scolaires Imprimés Au Luxembourg Aux 17e Et 18e Siècles, Et Actuellement Conservés Dans Les Collections De La BnL." Rapport d'Aptitude Marinheiro, 2018.
- ↑ Begheyn SJ, Jesuit Books, 46.
- ↑ John Carey, Carey's Gradus: Gradus ad Parnassum, with the English meanings, (London: Printed for the Company of Stationers, 1880.)[4]
- ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 5:88 [no.4798].
- ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, 2009, rev. 2023) Microsoft Word document (on file at the Wolf Law Library, William & Mary Law School).
- ↑ LibraryThing, s.v. "Member: George Wythe" accessed on June 26, 2025.
External Links
Read the 1670 edition from Google Books.