Liber Memorialis
The Liber Memorialis is an ancient book in
Description
The book is dedicated to a Macrinus, who may have been the emperor who reigned 217–218, but that name was not uncommon, and it seems more likely he was simply a young man with a thirst for universal knowledge, which the book was compiled to satisfy.
The book's object and scope are indicated in its dedication:
Since you desire to know everything, I have written this 'book of notes,' that you may learn of what the universe and its elements consist, what the world contains, and what the human race has done.
The Liber Memorialis seems to have been intended as a
Chapter VIII (Miracula Mundi) contains the following, the only reference by an ancient writer to the famous sculptures of the Pergamon Altar, which were discovered in 1871, excavated in 1878, and are now in Berlin:
At Pergamum there is a great marble
giants
Date
Nothing is known of the date at which the work was written; the times of Trajan,
Editions
The first edition of the Liber Memorialis was published in 1638 by Claudius Salmasius (Saumaise) from the Dijon manuscript, now lost, together with the Epitome of Florus. An 1873 edition by Wölfflin was based on Salmasius's copy of the lost codex. The more recent editions are
- Erwin Assmann's Teubneredition of 1935
- Nicola Terzaghi's edition, published by Chiantore in Turin ca. 1947 (preface dated 1943)
- Marie-Pierre Arnaud-Lidet's 1993 edition for the Collection Budé (includes French translation)
Notes
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2014) |
References
- Glaser, Rheinisches Museum, ii. (1843)
- Wölfflin, De L. Ampelii Libro Memoriali (1854)
- Zink, Eos, ii (1866)
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ampelius, Lucius". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
External links
- Liber Memorialis (Wölfflin's Latin text) at LacusCurtius
- Liber memoralis (Bibliotheca Augustana
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