English Translations from the Greek: A Bibliographical Survey

A meticulous study that traces every English rendering of Greek literature from the dawn of printing in 1476 up to the early twentieth century, this survey offers listeners a panoramic view of how the classics have travelled across languages and centuries. Beginning with a curiosity about early‑nineteenth‑century attitudes toward the ancient world, the author expands the scope to cover five centuries of translation activity, revealing patterns of scholarly interest and publishing trends. The opening sections explain the motivations behind the project and set the stage for an exhaustive catalog that balances breadth with clear, practical criteria.

Drawing on a wide array of bibliographic sources—from stationers’ registers and museum catalogues to American publishing records—the work maps out both British and American editions, noting dates, revisions, and reprints whenever possible. It deliberately focuses on Greek texts up to 200 AD, omitting later Christian writers and works whose interest is primarily religious, and it distinguishes true translations from adaptations or paraphrases. Listeners will come away with a deeper appreciation for the scholarly effort required to assemble such a comprehensive reference.