Philosophical Works of Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Vol. 2

on Benefits, the Epigrams on exile, and the Ludus de morte Claudii Caesaris are contained), in which he explains what new and unexpected aids have come to him and how.

« When Fessler, a most distinguished man, highly deserving for the polishing and adorning of his country's literature and the cultivation of philosophy, had wisely initiated in the last decade of the past century the plan of editing critically all the works of the philosopher Seneca that remain, and of illustrating them with observations—both those of others and his own—and had indeed rightly understood that many manuscript codices still lay hidden in libraries, not yet collated, he held nothing more ancient or important than to acquire those aids for himself, sparing no expense or labor, while Korn, a most honest bookseller of Wrocław, gladly shared his name and help with him. Nor did a good outcome fail his wishes: for he obtained for himself a remarkable abundance of variant readings from manuscript codices not yet brought forward by critics for the more corrected presentation of most of Seneca’s works, which are preserved in the Ambrosian Library in Milan, in Vienna, Strasbourg, Bern, Altdorf, Erfurt, Helmstedt, Erlangen, and Wolfenbüttel. This eminent man was laboring on these at the very time when our own edition began to be prepared and brought to light.

» No one will fail to understand, even if I do not profess it, how often, while occupied with bringing these next four volumes to completion (which contain all the works of Seneca, except the Natural Questions) and at times not a little vexed, I wished that, although I was preparing a "Recognition" and not a "Recension" of the text, it might still be permitted for me to be so fortunate as to be able to inspect these excellent aids of that most distinguished man, in order to consult them from time to time when my own resources were silent. But since it was not granted to enjoy this fortune,