Tag: Eusebius

From my diary

Posted on by Roger Pearse

Very busy with ‘real life’ at the moment, so I’m in no position to make progress with any of my projects. 

Someone suggested that I do a kindle version of the Eusebius book, containing only the translation of the Gospel Problems and Solutions.  Helpfully he offered advice on how to make the thing.  I will certainly consider this at some point.

At the weekend I found myself in a newsagent with quite a book selection.  I came out with a book from a series of historical novels, about a couple of chaps in the 1st century army.  The book was Simon Scarrow, The Legion, and was set in Egypt.  I read it over the weekend.

In honesty it was a disappointment to me.  It was professionally written, but there was almost no atmosphere to the book.  When the scene shifted, I hardly noticed.  There was no scenery, no sense that we were in pharonic Egypt — just the narrative, just the adventures.  In fact this was so much the case that I wondered whether you could turn it into a ‘Western’ novel about the US cavalry, simply by doing some global search-and-replace on names, locations, weapons, etc.  I really felt  that you could!  It was pleasant enough but it went straight to my “out” pile for disposal. 

I noticed, in the same shop, that fantasy and horror were now shelved as interchangeable.  I don’t want horror and misery as entertainment, thanks — I get plenty of that from my boss! — and the two genres used to be very distinct.  I suspect it marks the decline of fantasy, in truth.   I can’t remember the last time I saw an innovative fantasy novel.

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From my diary

Posted on by Roger Pearse

I’m still full of cold, but I have been trying to get back to the keyboard. In fact I have managed to proof the OCR output for the first chunk — very small chunk! — of Ibn Abi Usaibia, and confirmed to myself that it’s doable.  Working on this, therefore, will be a nice winter project. 

It’s not been too difficult, as there are not a lot of strange characters so far.  The translator has indicated long vowels with an overscore, and some t’s and d’s and s’s with a dot underneath.  I do wonder whether they are all necessary.  Is it really necessary to write “Allah” with an overscore over the second ‘a’?

An email has arrived from my friends at Les éditions du Cerf, confirming that they forgot to purchase from the editor the supposed copyright in the Greek text of the ecloge of Eusebius’ Gospel Problems and Solutions.  So I don’t owe them a royalty for using it in my book.  Not that the royalty was in any way oppressive — they were very decent folk, charged very little, and I highly recommend them to anyone who needs to reprint a text from the Sources Chrétiennes series.  But this scam among academic publishers, of claiming copyright of the original text of a modern edition of some ancient author, is so widespread that they doubtless feel obliged to do the same, and no blame to them.  It seems that Claudio Zamagni, the editor, retains ownership of any putative rights over the Greek text, and I know that he doesn’t believe that such a copyright should morally exist.  I agree with him there, as I have said before.  This also removes any legal obstacle to me placing the whole PDF of the book online when the time comes.  So everyone wins, and I will find some way to make a donation to the SC so they don’t lose out either.

Meanwhile I’m having some interesting times dealing with orders for the book via book-dealers.  One Italian bookshop ordered a copy ages ago, but has yet to pay.  Another Dutch bookshop seems better, but still no cash.  I think that I will go over to the system of requiring payment in advance, for anything else seems to make work and worry.  I’ve posted notices of the appearance of the book in a couple of online fora.

Annoyingly, I’m still too full of cold to sit at my computer much, and I am getting very tired of sitting around.  Isn’t it infuriating to be prevented from doing anything by a miserable cold virus?!  To have millions of useful, interesting and enjoyable things to do, and to feel too unwell to do any of them?  But I am mildly cheered to discover that during his 40’s C. S. Lewis — whose letters I am still reading — changed from having flu once a year to once a term, and started getting lumbago.  “At least I do better than that!” I thought to myself.  I think Lewis became old quite early, and indeed died at age 65 after ten years of illnesses.  In a letter he remarks that in his family this was normal.  Most of us will be more fortunate, I think. 

It is interesting that he allowed the ‘duty’ of correspondence with strangers to occupy so much of his time, after he became known through his broadcast talks on the BBC.  I think that he should probably have been rather more hard-hearted in this.  It is a warning to all of us, that we probably should ignore more emails than we do.  He also made the classic mistake of taking on domestic servants in order to find them a job — as being ‘deserving’ — rather than for their efficiency.  As a result he lived in continual discomfort.  The abolitionist William Wilberforce committed the same error, and with the same results. 

Talking of old age, I had a magazine come through my door from a professional organisation to which I belong.  This had an article on pensions, written by some financial advisor type.  It suggested, risibly, that to give the sort of income he thought adequate, most of us should be paying into our pensions something between 2,000-3,000 GBP a month.  I can’t imagine anyone in a position to do this, in these straitened times, and I certainly am not one of them.  But probably the man who wrote it hoped to gain a percentage commission of these vast sums, and chose his numbers accordingly. 

I’m currently still reading the collected letters of C. S. Lewis — volume 2, not volume 3, as I mistakenly supposed yesterday.  One author whom he quotes with great approval is Novalis.  I remember, many years ago, going into a German bookshop in Munchen-Gladbach and coming out with a copy of Heinrich von Ofterdingen.  But my German is wretched, and I could make nothing of it.  The interesting thing is that I don’t think Lewis’ German was that great either — although he refers to reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales in the original, and finding that there were about five times as many in that language, and many very sinister or sad.  But if so, how did he read Novalis?  Or is there an English translation, unbeknownst to me?

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Eusebius update

Posted on by Roger Pearse

This evening I had an email from a French journal, asking for a review copy of the Eusebius, Gospel Problems and Solutions book.  They seem very reputable, and I suspect the enquiry comes thanks to my friends in the Francophone world — thank you all.  I’ve placed the order, and they should get it in a fortnight.

Meanwhile this has spurred me to send 6 copies of the hardback to Les editions du Cerf.  This was part of my deal with them, for permission to use Claudio Zamagni’s Greek text.  Admittedly the copyright position on this is less clear than it was — they may not actually legally own the text (and morally they should not, in my opinion).  But I did agree to this part of the deal, and they have been very helpful and easy to deal with.  So the copies are on their way.  With luck they will encourage more interest still in French circles.

I’m reasonably happy with sales so far, in the first two months, but of course we’re nowhere near break-even point yet.  I do need to market it a bit more as well.

By the way, if you are one of those kindly people who has bought a copy, please feel free to add reviews on Amazon!

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Eusebius update

Posted on by Roger Pearse

The book is still selling well, I think.  Amazon are fulfilling orders quite quickly, or so I hear, which says that they are holding stock and, pleasingly, selling them!

Carol Downer and her team, who did the translation of the Coptic fragments, are thinking about translating more of the Coptic catena.  I am encouraging them!

A rather interesting copyright issue has developed with the book.   For the Eclogue, I licensed the Greek text edited by Claudio Zamagni from Les Editions du Cerf, who publish the Sources Chretiennes series.

I myself do not believe that copyright was ever intended to apply to the raw Greek or Latin text of ancient authors, however edited.  The publishing industry has pushed for ever more copyright, and I am told that some German courts have even acknowledged such ownership, improbable as it seems.  But I wanted no trouble, and indeed the Cerf were very easy to deal with and asked a modest percentage (unlike Brepols, whose demands were so outrageous that I was forced to use a pre-critical text and simply note the difference — five words! — in the footnotes).

But today I learn from Dr. Zamagni that he never licensed his Greek text to the Cerf.  His contract with them left the ownership of that (if any) in his own hands.  He tells me that the Cerf have acknowledged this.  Naturally I have written back and asked his permission to use it, and I have also written to the Cerf and queried the facts.  After all, if they don’t have any claim on the copyright, I don’t owe them any money.

I’m sure the Cerf negotiated in good faith, and I will happily give them the free copies that were part of the deal.  But I suspect Dr. Z. is quite right about the legalities. 

But it all raises an interesting issue.  Surely every scholar should ensure that the raw Greek text of his labours should not become the supposed property of Bloggins and Co?  After all, a scholar may wish to do an editio minora, and should not have to pay to use his own work again!

None of us would deny a publisher the chance for a return on his work.  But this whole business of claiming copyright on the works of someone dead 16 centuries smells, whatever the legal trickery.  I suggest that scholars put an end to it by declining to include that text within their deals with publishers.  Apparatus? Fine by me.  Translations?  Ditto.  Commentaries?  Ditto.  Wherever real work is done, it is fine that a copyright exist.  But where someone is merely editing a corrupt text back to what the author wrote, the circulation of the raw text should NOT be obstructed by copyright.

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Christophe Guignard on Julius Africanus’ letter about the genealogies in Matthew

Posted on by Roger Pearse

I’ve started to read the volume of Christophe Guignard, La lettre de Julius Africanus à Aristide sur la généalogie du Christ, De Gruyters (2011).  It’s full of good things, like a well-baked cake in which every bite includes a nut or a raisin.  I have, so far, merely nibbled at it.  It is, in truth, a formidably expensive volume at $210.

Now I bought  the volume at half price at the Oxford Patristics Conference, after Dr. Guignard came to the stall where I was selling copies of the text and English translation of my Eusebius, Gospel Problems and Solutions (=Gospel Questions).  But thereby hangs a tale.  For I find that I was only just in time.  Today a correspondent writes to say  that he was also at the conference, and had gone out to a leisurely lunch with Dr. G.  My friend rushed back to the De Gruyter stall to buy the book, only to find that “some slyboots” — me! — had made off with the only display copy of the book.  Fortune favours the brave!  But probably De Gruyter will honour conference prices, if asked.

I’m not that interested in the letter of Africanus.  But the process of retrieving its fragments takes us over all sorts of sources for early Christian bible commentaries.  It is, in truth, very interesting indeed and full of nuggets of information.  It’s the polished version of a PhD thesis, which will amaze many who have seen anglophone dissertations.  But it makes most of those look babyish.   Evidently French theses achieve a level simply unknown to UK and American PhD supervisors.  The notes make clear a level of reading and knowledge far beyond my own, and I hope to give you, in translation, some bits of the book which will be of general interest. 

For this evening, I thought that I would give you a bit of the foreword in my own English translation, as I found myself translating it as I read last night.

The present work is a lightly reworked version of my doctoral thesis in protestant theology and Greek and Latin philology, completed at the universities of Strasbourg and Bari under the direction of professors Rémi Gounelle and Luciano Canfora, and submitted at Strasbourg on the 28 September 2009.

After I had started with the religious problem posed by the simultaneous coexistence of pagan and Christian elements within the Africanian corpus in my final thesis for theology studies, Julius Africanus: Réexamen d’une énigme (under the direction of prof. Eric Junod, Lausanne, 2004), I at first considered the project of composing for this author a comprehensive study, both biographical and literary.  Very soon, however, the Letter to Aristides attracted my interest.  Claudio Zamagni, that great scholar of the subject, had already drawn my attention to the presence of new extracts of the text in the Syriac tradition of the Gospel questions of Eusebius of Caesarea.  The attribution of the fragments, in two independent branches of the tradition, which not only had remained unknown to the last editor of the letter, W. Reichardt, but also did not fit into the system, on the basis of which he had constructed his edition, convinced me of the necessity to undertake afresh and extend the study of the tradition of the text.  To my great surprise, this process has allowed me to bring to light an unpublished fragment of the Greek, since I was convinced that all the materials for the Greek text had already been identified.  This discovery significantly altered the direction of my research, since, more than ever, it was necessary to give a fresh edition of the text.  Such is therefore the first aim of this work, but, since the text has never been translated as a whole, I have thought it useful to add to it a French translation, as well as a study, in part on the polemical context within which the letter of Africanus was written, and on the other hand on the argumentation which the author deploys to support his arguments and the origin of the traditions which he invokes.

The introduction continues with Dr. Guignard’s thanks to the various people and institutions who made this study possible.  All of them, in truth, should be proud to be associated with it.   It is truly excellent.  More later.

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From my diary – translation projects and other things

Posted on by Roger Pearse

The July sales figures (through Amazon) for Eusebius’ book on differences between the gospels (and how to resolve them) have arrived and are encouraging.  I still haven’t launched an online marketing campaign, yet we sold more in July than in June.  Interestingly most of these seem to have been hardbacks.  The purchasers certainly got a good deal — those hardbacks are impressive! — but I wouldn’t have expected that.

I’ve had another attempt at my project to translate Cyril of Alexandria’s Apologeticus ad imperatorem.  A sample couple of pages have arrived from the translator, and I passed them to Andrew Eastbourne for comment.  His verdict was decidely negative, unfortunately, which is a great pity.  But I need to read his review in detail, which I won’t do this evening.

The postman brought me a large parcel containing two volumes which together make up Brockelmann’s Supplement 1 to his history of Arabic literature.  I created these for personal use from a rather poor PDF, making sure they had wide margins, and the results are more than satisfactory.

While looking at the Greenhill papers on Galen — mentioned in yesterday’s post — I noticed that in several cases the books had been (re)bound, interleaved with blank pages, so that notes might be made on them.  Perhaps I should try doing the same with some of these PDFs!

This practice of interleaving is something that you never see today; yet I remember talking to an academic who told me that the late L.D.Reynolds, editor of Texts and Transmissions, had a copy of his own book made for him with interleaved blank pages by Oxford University Press so that he could scribble notes in it.  Clearly it is still possible.

The Royal College of Physicians library wrote back to me today about those Greenhill papers, containing stuff on Galen’s works in Arabic.  They don’t allow photocopying of material more than a century old — and who can blame them? — but they do allow the use of digital cameras.  Good for them!  They’re closed until 15th August, but I must look at getting down there and browsing the material.

I’ve also been reading Walzer’s book Galen on Jews and Christians.  It’s a curious performance, but I am learning some interesting things from it.  A post will doubtless be forthcoming in due course.  The most interesting thing that I have seen so far is that all the passages are extant in Arabic translation, but two of them are only extant in Arabic.  Walzer seems to think that no question of authenticity arises, which seems surprising given the tendency of Arabic authors to elaborate, but doubtless he will explain why.

Last night I did some more work on my version of Brockelmann’s remarks on early Arabic writers about Mohammed (and, when it’s 25C in your bedroom and very humid, you’re not going to be sleeping, so why not use the time?).  I also started searching for web versions, and found some.  I will include links to these in the final version.  I did discover that the Digital Library of India held copies of the journal Islamic Culture, which in 1927 and 1928 has some important articles on this subject.  I just wish their site was quicker and easier to use!  For Arabic culture, the publications in India in the 19th century are important, and I suspect few of us have ever visited the DLI site or downloaded its curious download tool.

Today I was able to discover that Guillaume’s English translation of ibn Ishak is online in page images.  This evening I hope to download it.  The book is a reconstruction of this lost early biography, based on quotations in Ibn Hisham and al-Tabari.

Finally, and on a lighter note, I have just checked my inbox, and received a job advert for a contract IT support engineer role in Afghanistan, paying about average UK rates.  Length of contract is 20 months. 

Evidently I need to be nicer to recruitment agents when they phone.  Who knew that one of them was trying to get me shot!

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Eusebius update

Posted on by Roger Pearse

Long-time readers will be aware that I’ve been engaged, as publisher, in producing the first English translation of Eusebius of Caesarea’s Gospel Problems and Solutions — Quaestiones ad Stephanum et Marinum — and getting it available in printed form.  The long term intention is to make the translation at least freely available online.  But I’ve produced a hardback and paperback, with facing Greek (and Latin, Syriac, Coptic and Arabic) and English pages. 

The book is available from Amazon (hardback, $80; paperback, $45), and if anyone who has bought a copy feels like adding a review, then that would be great!

This evening I’ve set things up so that copies can be ordered through the company website for Chieftain Publishing.  The page is here, and there are Paypal links set up for both paperback and hardback.  There is a slight discount on these, since I don’t have to pay a percentage to Amazon.

There’s also a PDF of some sample pages available for download, so you can see what you’re getting.  You can also “Look Inside” at Amazon.

The book got some more hardback sales in July via Amazon in the US.  But I haven’t promoted it yet.  The big marketing effort comes next week, when all the 850 participants at the Oxford Patristics Conference will get a leaflet in the conference welcome pack.  In addition the book will be on display at the conference, so you can come and browse.  And I’m also taking 20 copies of the paperback, in case people want to give me money there and then!  I wonder if people will?

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From my diary

Posted on by Roger Pearse

Up late last night trying to produce printed copies of a large book which I have in PDF.  I did most of it — will do the rest today.

One nice thing that happened is that an Italian bookshop ordered a copy of Eusebius, Gospel Problems and Solutions.  They’re in the road that leads up to the Vatican, and I expect they’ll sell it handily.  Today I did the order.  I also had to produce an invoice, with bank details for international transfers — IBAN and Swift code, etc.  Let’s see if I did it correctly.

I’ll tell you all about what I’ve been doing for the last few days later on today!

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From my diary

Posted on by Roger Pearse

To London, to the Warburg Institute, with a car boot full of academic books to give away. 

Some, I confess, I shall miss.  But I find that increasingly I prefer electronic versions of most academic books.  And I really haven’t the space.  Eight plastic bagfulls … wonder what I paid for those?  But the last time I tried to sell such books, I got a pittance for each.  I’d far rather one of us had the chance to use them. 

The journey down by car was smoother than I thought.  You drive to the bottom of the M11, which turns into the A406 North Circular.  West along that, until you see a sign for the A503 and Walthamstowe.  Onto the A503, and carry on, and on, following the signs for A503, until you reach Camden Town (which is signposted).  Then you’re at the top of Bloomsbury, and half a mile from where you want to go. 

Traffic was very light, and the unsynchronised traffic lights were a boon to a man with a map to consult!  I managed to park in an NCP car park in Woburn Place for 6GBP for two hours.

The delivery went swimmingly.  The Warburg was rather impressive.  My colleague showed me the library, where all the books are on the shelves, including early editions, and you can browse.  The Tertullian section was most impressive.  They had a Junius 1597 edition there — the one with the collation of the lost and exotic Fulda text of the Apologeticum.  That is a rare book.  I approved entirely.

One strange thing at the Warburg: they employ a comedy porter as receptionist.  He’s Chinese, and friendly enough, but he really doesn’t speak English.  He’s memorised a few phrases, and uses these; and if you speak, he tries to work out which of the standard enquiries you are making.  He had to ring for the person I wanted to speak to, and couldn’t pronounce the name.  Nor could he spell out the name!

But the best bit was when I came back, just before leaving, and asked if there was a loo that I could use.  He looked at the pigeonholes, and then said, clearly and perfectly:

I think he’s just gone out.

I then said “toilet”, and he said

Ah! THE Loo!

followed by some indistinct directions.  Luckily for me there was a poster on the door in the direction in which he pointed!

Considering the number of foreign visitors that the institute must get, one wonders how they get on.  But the chap was well-meaning and friendly, and that is much.  I remember that, when I applied to Oxford long ago, at Christ Church College the porters were appalling people, who took delight in snubbing the quavering applicant.  One was known as “Mad George”, I am told, which perhaps sends a certain message.

The journey back was not so nice. There was much more traffic, but I got held up in Essex when the local constabulary decided to close the main road into the county for many hours.  I was rather glad to get home!

This evening I have ordered a correction to the leaflet for the Eusebius book — because I forgot the little matter of postage and packing, and because I decided to offer a discount for copies ordered at the conference in August.

I’m wondering whether to take copies with me to sell, and if so, how many.  I have no idea whether people will have loose change in their pockets there, and if so, whether they will want to pass that in my direction. 

I don’t have a lot of visibility of Amazon sales, since they send me statements in arrears and money later yet. But sales are now happening, which is very good news.  I had a statement from Lightning Source yesterday indicating that, in the US, six hardbacks and one paperback were sold last month.  That is pretty good considering that I have yet to market the book, and never expected to sell Hardbacks on Amazon, as being aimed at libraries (although the hardback is a rather impressive lump, I must confess!).  The paperback sale was very swift, since I wasn’t sure that the paperback was actually available last month at all!

I also spent some time on the Chieftain Publishing website last night.  Had to give up when I ran out of puff, so there is more to do.

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Eusebius update

Posted on by Roger Pearse

The proof copy of the paperback of Eusebius of Caesarea, Gospel problems and solutions (Quaestiones ad Stephanum et Marinum) has arrived this evening, and is perfectly fine.  I’ve marked it as approved on the Lightning Source site, so it should now start to trickle through the distribution system.

Once I know that I can order copies myself, then I shall start letting people know that it’s available and emailing all the supporters of the project who kindly expressed interest.

It’s not as massive a tome as the hardback.  But it is still 432 pages of pretty serious work! 

I’ve also commissioned a leaflet to go in the welcome pack of the Oxford Patristics Conference.  The first draft of this arrived today, and looks very good indeed.  The graphic designer that I use, Add Design, produce very professional-looking materials first cut.  I’ll look at it more carefully this evening and decide what revisions I want.

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