EDITOR’S PREFACE

[Minoïde Mynas] found it by good fortune while traveling through Greece and Asia in the year 1840, by order of the Honorable Villemain Abel-François Villemain (1790–1870), a French politician and writer who served as the Minister of Public Instruction., the high administrator of public education. For this discovery, Menas original: Μηνᾶς; Minoïde Mynas (1790–1860), a Greek scholar and manuscript hunter who rediscovered several lost ancient texts. is entirely worthy of congratulations; yet, he is also to be blamed for not providing even a single word to indicate which library in which location possesses the manuscript, what the condition of the book is, or its age and the evidence thereof. Furthermore, the style of the language suggests that the manuscript is of a very recent date.

E. Miller Emmanuel Miller (1812–1886), a prominent French paleographer and librarian at the Bibliothèque Nationale., a man most celebrated for his erudition in Greek studies, had intended to edit the Philogelos original: Φιλόγελῳ; "The Laughter-Lover," the title of the joke collection.; but, being now occupied with more serious studies which claim his entire attention, he proposed that I should undertake the work, out of the kindness he shows me. The prospect pleased me greatly; and, matching words with action, I prepared myself for this new labor without delay.

After a quick reading of the little book, I realized that an editor—even when dealing with a light and frivolous subject—would need to apply much care and diligence to ensure that Miller would not regret his choice and that I might satisfy learned readers. For the edition of a Greek work, even the most trivial, attracts learned readers and is judged by learned critics.

Therefore, while seeking resources for the edition, Fabricius Johann Albert Fabricius (1668–1736), a monumental bibliographer of classical texts. informed me that “Jacobus Pontanus Jacob Spanmüller (1542–1626), a Jesuit scholar known for his works on rhetoric. had long ago translated the Wits of Hierocles, expanded from the Augsburg manuscript, and that they appear at the end of his Progymnasmata original: Progymnasmatum; "Preliminary Exercises," a textbook on the art of rhetoric..” This book is not easily found, and was entirely unknown to the previous editors of the Wits of Hierocles whom I was able to consult; however, the keepers of the Library of Paris The Bibliothèque Nationale de France., most excellent and learned men, kindly permitted me to use it. The jokes translated by Pontanus number 109, and they bear this heading: “From...”