In Quest of Virgil's Birthplace.

Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - altersgem�sehr guter Zustand / very good condition for age - Goldschnitt oben, unbeschnitten Rest - Signatur vom Verfasser / gilt edges at the top, untrimmed remainder - signature of the author - PREFACE -- WHERE was Virgil born? The question assumes a new importance as the world turns devoutly to the celebration of his two-thousandth birthday. The ancient tradition that his birthplace was the little town of Pietole, three Roman miles or so to the south of Mantua, has been rudely shaken of late by Professor Conway, who locates the spot thirty miles to the northwest at Calvisano or Carpenedolo. I regret unspeakably to enter into controversy with so dear a friend of mine and so devoted an interpreter of Virgil, but he will forgive me if I speak out my convictions with his own directness. The reader should not swallow my arguments whole, or my statement of those of Conway, but turn first of all to his admirable essay on the subject in his Harvard Lectures on the Vergilian Age, published by the Harvard University Press in 1928. My own exposition, sketchy and incidental as the plan of the little book requires, should be supplemented by Bruno Nardi�s work, La Giovinezza di Virgilio, Mantua, 1927, with an appendix entitled �Il Paese Natio di Virgilio.� I had not read this work at the time of our excursion and was delighted to find in it my own deductions with regard to Virgil�s birthplace set forth with more system and completeness; certain differences in details do not mar the general uniformity of our points of view. Professor Nardi�s volume, small in compass and rich in contents, has been translated by Mrs. Rand, and in its English form will shortly be issued by the Harvard University Press. I am grateful to the Press for preparing with extra speed these little presents for Virgil�s birthday.