Loeb classical series going digital

[Lyceum]

You have to pay for it?! :o

Then use it not. What is wrong with that? Would you ask a mechanic to fix your car for free? Scholarship on any level is a ridiculous pursuit in terms of skill and man hours. To take something, for example a critical text, supposes said person has a) learnt the languages and b) the critical toolsets and c) had the overall training and environment to produce that. Have you any idea the man hours this involves? Of course not. I look at something like West's edition of the Iliad, the most remarkable feat of Classical scholarship, and see how many papyri etc consulted (ca. 1100) and my jaw drops. I can't imagine the skill and time and sacrifices and ability that took. This is a full professor mind, not one of the hundreds of students and readers and lecturers killing themselves.

Naturally with a site like this they need to keep it updated and running etc and that costs money. No one begrudges that. Or rather no one SHOULD begrudge supporting it. My problem is I know that the subscription cost will most likely be well and away extortionate. They said it will be accessible. I very much doubt accessible = free. Frankly I find the lack of pricing info somewhat scary. I think accessible just means, in these cases, the fact that there's a translation and simple introduction for the book itself and that there will probably be tiered access packages and institutional subscriptions for students so they don't have to purchase their own accounts.

a) I detest Loebs so sod off HUP and produce something useful ...

That's a little harsh. :errr: What has caused this blanket hatred?! Surely the pioneers of the facing-page translation deserve some gratitude?

I don't think they pioneered anything, I'm pretty sure bilingual and interlinear texts were quite common beforehand, especially in Germany. Loebs are well and away insane in what they cost. You get a text which is occasionally up to date (like, say, Kaster's Macrobius) or a feat of scholarship in itself (West's epic fragments) but with minimum to none critical notes making it useless in most cases. They boast a translation which is at best often superfluous and more often insanely out of date....

Then look at the volumising! Can you imagine getting something like Herodotus which I think is 4/5 volumes? at £15 each? WHO IS DECIDING THIS? how is it that the Iliad may occupy two volumes but there are fragments which must appear in 3 volumes my fingers width? It's all $$ frankly. This is the criminality. I just...god it enrages me so much when I think about it.

My suggestions are if anyone wants a bilingual text purchase from les belles lettres. More critical apparati, better introductions and more sensible volumisation. Better yet just purchase the OCT and a translation if you need it. You'll save so much $$ per text Loebs. Out of all the ones I've had over the years I've given away all but 3/4. A pox on them. They could be really good tools for fledgling Classicists. Some of the modern ones are produced by really talented scholars yet the volumising puts them out of reach. They're well made pretty tiny volumes but there are probably reasons you don't see them outside of libraries...

Seriously I'm looking at my Varro editions and it makes me so angry I could punch a fish. Even with the nice student discounts its insane.