Ocellus Lucanus, Firmicus Maternus, Select Theorems of Proclus (Thomas Taylor)

Ocellus was first printed in Greek at Paris in 1539, followed by a Latin version by Chretien in 1541; by Bosch in 1554 and 1556; by Nogarola in Venice in 1559; by Commelin in 1596; at Heidelberg in 1598; at Bologna in 1646 (revised by Vizanius in 1661); and lastly by Gale at Cambridge in 1671. Here are ten editions, the last of which appeared only 49 years before 1700, proving that "universal consent" had certainly not decided to neglect this work. Let us see if such neglect could have occurred later: D'Argens' translation appeared in 1762; a new French translation by the Abbé Batteux was printed in 1768 (without knowledge of the former); D'Argens' version was reprinted in 1794; and an amended Greek and Latin text by Rudolph was printed at Leipsic in 1801. In total, there are fourteen known editions, of which Gale’s is the best. This book has certainly been read in Greek, Latin, and French, and it will surely be read in English if any competent translator favors us with a good version.

"In addition to the testimonies of Plato and Aristotle in favor of this work, Philo, the Platonizing Jew, says: 'Some are of the opinion that it was not Aristotle, but certain Pythagoreans, who first maintained the eternity of the world; but I have seen a treatise of Ocellus in which he says the...