Monday, July 12, 2004

Housmania!

This is my new mantra:

"The prime requisite of a good emendation," said he, "is that it should start from the thought; it is only afterwards that other considerations, such as those of metre or possibilities, such as the interchange of letters, are taken into account."
Moritz Haupt, quoted by AE Housman in "The Application of Thought to Textual Criticism."