ΣΑΠΦΩ
| L. Alma Tadema pinxt. | J. Cother Webb fec. |
SAPPHO
MEMOIR, TEXT, SELECTED
RENDERINGS, AND A
LITERAL TRANSLATION BY
HENRY THORNTON WHARTON
M.A. OXON
LONDON: JOHN LANE · THE
BODLEY HEAD · NEW YORK:
JOHN LANE COMPANY · 1908
Πάντα καθαρὰ τοῖς καθαροῖς.
First Edition. Fcap. 8vo. Pp. xii+190.
One Illustration. David Stott. 1885.
Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo. Pp. xvi+213.
Two Illustrations, David Stott. 1887.
Third Edition. Fcap. 8vo. Pp. xx+217.
Three Illustrations, John Lane. 1895.
Fourth Edition. Fcap. 8vo. Pp. xx+222.
Three Illustrations and Memoir of Mr.
Wharton. John Lane. 1898.
Fifth Edition. Fcap. 8vo. Pp. xxxii+217.
Three Illustrations and Memoir of Mr.
Wharton. John Lane. 1908.
Printed by Ballantyne & Co. Limited
Tavistock Street, London
PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION
I would fain have enriched this edition of my Sappho with some new words of the poetess, if only even to the slight extent which I reached in 1887; but, to the world's sorrow, that pleasure has been denied me. Still, we need not yet give up all hope, after the unexpected discovery of the unknown Mimiambi of Herondas, on a papyrus-roll used to stuff an Egyptian mummy-case, so few years ago (cf. The Academy, Oct. 11, 1890).
Neverthless, I can now present to the lovers of Sappho a good deal more than was heretofore in my power; in a new form, it is true, but with the same beautiful Greek type. And with this third edition I am enabled to give a reproduction, in photogravure, of the charming picture of Mitylene by the late Mr. Clarkson Stanfield, R.A., for which I am primarily indebted to Dr. R. Garnett, of the British Museum.
Since it was my privilege, if I may say so without arrogance, to introduce Sappho to {vi}English readers in the year 1885, in a form which they could understand, whether they knew any Greek or none, and in the entirety of every known word of hers, there has arisen a mass of literature upon the subject of the greatest lyrist of all time. To enumerate the pictures that have been painted, the articles and books and plays that have been written, which have appealed to the public in the last ten years, would be an almost impossible task. In my Bibliography I have endeavoured to give a reference to all that is of prominent and permanent interest, ranging from 'the postman poet,' Mr. Hosken, to the felicitous paraphrases