A few days in Athens, Being the translation of a Greek manuscript discovered in Herculaneum by Frances Wright (1850)
The original MS. fell into the hands of my erudite correspondent in the autumn of the year 1817, From that period until the commencement of last winter, all his leisure hours were devoted to the arduous task of unroll- ing the leaves, and decyphering the half defaced characters. The imperfect condition of the MS. soon obliged him to forego his first intention of transcribing the original Greek; he had recourse, therefore, to an Italian version, supplying the chasms, consisting sometimes of a word, sometimes of a line, and occasionally of a phrase, with a careful and laborious study of the context.
While this version was printing at Florence, an MS. copy was transmitted to me in Paris, with a request that I would forthwith see it translated into the English and French languages. The former version I undertook myself, and can assure the reader that it possesses the merit of fidelit}'. The first erudite translator has not conceived it necessary to encumber the volume with marginal notes; nor have I found either the inclination or the ability to supply them.
Those who should wish to refer to the allusions scattered through the old classics to the characters and systems here treated of will find much assistance from the marginal authorities of the eloquent and ingenious Bayle. I have only to add, that the present volume comprises little more than a third of the original MS.; it will be sufficient, however, to enable the public to form an estimate of the probable value of the whole.
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