Complete Works of Claudius Ptolemy, Vol. II

The Hellenic Culture.

Presented by Fritz Baumgarten, Franz Poland, Richard Wagner. 2nd edition. With 7 colored plates, 2 maps, and nearly 400 illustrations in the text and on 2 double-page plates. [X and 401 pages] large 8vo. 1907. Paperbound 10 Marks, in cloth-bound 12 Marks.

The work aims to meet the need for a comprehensive presentation of Greek culture, which a second volume, currently in preparation, will cover for Roman culture to a greater extent than has been available thus far. The authors, all of whom are active in practical school teaching, have viewed it as their task to present the established results of recent research in a form comprehensible and aesthetically pleasing to every educated person, with special consideration for the needs and results of instruction in the upper classes of our higher schools. The appealing text is supplemented and explained by a rich array of illustrations, which should be all the more valuable as the visual realization of antiquity through good educational materials is rarely achieved today.

"A book that one takes into one's hand with pleasure, and which attests to the scholarly conscientiousness of the authors. Everywhere, the latest theory is thoroughly considered, whether in the treatment of art, literature, or religious understanding. The presentation is mostly concise, but directly understandable and pleasing. Above all, the short overview of language and religion in the introduction deserves praise. However, the depiction of art stands entirely in the foreground. Close associations and genuine, immediate observations are brought to the reader's mind, which keeps them engaged in the progress of the text. What moves the reader is usually tied to well-chosen examples. Alongside the descriptive explanation of art, the development of images also receives full justice. The political system, especially in Athens, is presented in all its institutions in a vivid yet scientific manner. Comparisons with later conditions facilitate understanding. The description of private life particularly allows the enormous contrasts to stand out; from this results a striking summary and judgments that are often concise, almost daring, and mostly samples of very passionate characterization itself. We are pleased that, alongside Greek literature, this side of the merits of the presentation of this exemplary book is emphasized..."

(Lehrproben und Lehrgänge.)

Character Heads from Ancient Literature.

By Prof. Dr. Ed. Schwartz. Five lectures: 1. Hesiod and Pindar; 2. Thucydides and Euripides; 3. Socrates and Plato; 4. Polybius and Poseidonius; 5. Cicero. 2nd edition. [VI and 126 pages] large 8vo. 1906. Paperbound 2 Marks, in cloth-bound 2.80 Marks.

"...all lectures contain, by virtue of their quite unusual fullness of content and insights, the royal preface of a maturing intellectual depth in the most brilliant form. One will hardly admire the depth of the historical and psychological analysis more than the proud and, in places, downright sublime effect. The lectures are basically formed in this way by a brilliant mind rather than just in words... they prove the thoughtful power of their language in such a way, concise and simple as it is, that one often hardly knows whether the serious beauty of the explanations or the sharpness of the analysis has greater merit..."

(Jahresbericht über das Höhere Schulwesen.)

History of the Hellenistic Age.

By Julius Kaerst. Vol. I: The Foundation of Hellenism. [X and 433 pages] large 8vo. 1901. Paperbound 12 Marks, in half-French binding 14 Marks.

"...Kaerst is the first to clear a path around a difficulty that confronts almost every history of Hellenism... The entire work reveals a historical talent of the first rank... King Alexander, where every stone can speak, which it can do immediately from the book. With deep seriousness, Kaerst has approached his task in order to achieve, through the power of concentration... Here, however, enters a work that may be considered completely solid and achieved a presentation of the history of Alexander that accomplished almost the impossible... in research and presentation regarding form and content in a ratio such as has not been dared since J. G. Droysen..."

(Litter. Zentralblatt 1901, No. 34.)