Bibliography on classical Greek literature on papyri

by Peter van Minnen

On additions to Greek poetry and prose:

* basic bibliography in R.A. Pack, The Greek and Latin Literary Texts from Greco-Roman Egypt (2nd ed., Ann Arbor 1965; 3rd ed. in preparation (bits and pieces of it appear in a variety of journals and Festschriften and can be located with the help of the electronic Bibliographie Papyrologique)

* continuing bibliographies by genre in Archiv für Papyrusforschung

* occasional bibliographies by author in Lustrum and elsewhere

* overviews and discussions:

W. Schubart, Einführung in die Papyruskunde (Berlin 1918) 95-183 (good at communicating interesting details; includes an alphabetical list of authors)

J.E. Powell & E.A. Barber, New Chapters in the History of Greek Literature 1-3 (Oxford 1921-1933; out of date)

J.G. Winter, Life and Letters in the Papyri (Ann Arbor 1933) 192-276 (reads well)

O. Montevecchi, La papirologia (Turin 1973) 364-394 (provides some statistics; includes an alphabetical list of authors)

P.J. Parsons, Greece & Rome 29 (1982) 184-195 (on recent additions) and Actes du VIIe congrès de la FIEC 2 (Budapest 1984) 517-531 (on recent additions to poetry)

M.W. Haslam, Proceedings of the 20th International Congress of Papyrologists (Copenhagen 1994) 98-105 (on recent additions to poetry; reads well)

* selection of texts in D.L. Page, Greek Literary Papyri: Poetry (London 1942): $16.95 (generous with unwarranted reconstructions)

On reading fragments of Greek literature:

J.G. Zetzel, Classical Philology 82 (1987) 347-362 (on Supplementum Hellenisticum)

F. Lasserre, Nouveaux chapitres de littérature grecque (Genève 1989)

The Academic Papers of Sir Hugh Lloyd-Jones 1-2 (Oxford 1990)

On post-classical Greek:

E. Debrunner, Geschichte der griechischen Sprache 2 (Berlin 1954) or M. Meier-Brügger, Griechische Sprachwissenschaft 1 (Berlin & New York 1992)

G.H.R. Horsley, New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity 5 (Macquarie 1989; important for more than just New Testament Greek)

C.J. Ruijgh, Mnemosyne 37 (1984) 56-88 (on the influence of Cyrenian Doric on Alexandrian koine)

F.T. Gignac, Yale Classical Studies 28 (1985) 155-165

Traditional grammars of Greek as found in contemporary documentary papyri in E. Mayser, Grammatik der griechischen Papyri aus der Ptolemäerzeit (Berlin etc. 1926-1970) and B.G. Mandilaras, The Verb in the Greek Non-literary Papyri (Athens 1973)

On editing ancient texts:

Index du Bulletin épigraphique de J. et L. Robert 3 (Paris 1975) 1-6 (a checklist of things to remember) and the review of W. Peek, Griechische Vers-Inschriften in Gnomon 31 (1959) 1-30

H.C. Youtie, The Textual Criticism of Documentary Papyri (2nd ed., London 1974) and Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 4 (1963) 19-32 (also in his Scriptiunculae 1) and Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 7 (1966) 251-258 (also in his Scriptiunculae 1) - methodologically interesting for literary papyri as well

E.G. Turner, The Papyrologist at Work (Durham 1973): $4 + $3 postage and handling; write to Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies, Box 90109, Durham, NC 27708-0109 (explains the process of editing unpublished Greek literari papyri step by step)

On the transmission of Greek literature:

M.W. Haslam, Illinois Classical Studies 3 (1978) 47-73 (on Apollonius Rhodius)

G. Zuntz, The Text of the Epistles (London 1953; on New Testament manuscript P46)

On the context of literary papyri:

W. Clarysse, in Egypt and the Hellenistic World (Leuven 1983) 43-61 (on archives containing literary papyri)

M. Manfredi, in Egitto e società antica (Milano 1985) 271-285

K. Treu, Byzantinoslavica 47 (1986) 1-7

On the literary culture of Hellenism:

R. Pfeiffer, History of Classical Scholarship from the Beginnings to the End of the Hellenistic Age (Oxford 1968; important for the intellectual background to the production of literary papyri)

P.M. Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria (Oxford 1972; less incisive than Pfeiffer)

J. Krüger, Oxyrhynchus in der Kaiserzeit (Frankfurt etc. 1990; provides some statistics and an alphabetical list of authors) with Tyche 7 (1992) 75-79 (on one of the scribes copying literary texts at Oxyrhynchus)

P. van Minnen & K.A. Worp, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 34 (1993) 151-186 (does the same as Krüger for Hermopolis)

On literary papyri as artifacts:

E.G. Turner, Greek Papyri (2nd ed., Oxford 1980; good at communicating that literary papyri are things and thet they were found somewhere)

E.G. Turner, Greek Manuscripts of the Ancient World (1st ed., Oxford 1971; 2nd ed., London 1987; pays much attention to details visible on literary papyri)

E.G. Turner, The Typology of the Early Codex (Philadelphia 1977)

E.G. Turner, The Terms Recto and Verso. The Anatomy of the Papyrus Roll (Bruxelles 1978)

W. Schubart, Das Buch bei den Griechen und Römern (3rd ed., Heidelberg 1962; for the notes see the 2nd ed.)

N. Lewis, Papyrus in Classical Antiquity (Oxford 1974; supplement Bruxelles 1990)

Les débuts du codex (Turnhout 1989)

Les tablettes à écrire (Turnhout 1992)

On palaeography:

W. Schubart, Papyri graecae berolinenses (Bonn 1911)

W. Schubart, Griechische Paläographie (München 1925; the most comprehensive discussion to date)

M. Norsa, La scrittura letteraria greca (Firenze 1939)

C.H. Roberts, Greek Literary Hands (Oxford 1955)

R. Seider, Paläographie der griechischen Papyri 2-3.1 (Stuttgart 1970-1990)

E.G. Turner, Scrittura e Civiltà 4 (1980) 19-40 (on early Ptolemaic bookhands)

G. Cavallo & H. Maehler, Greek Bookhands of the Early Byzantine Period (London 1987)

G. Cavallo, Ricerche sulla maiuscola biblica (Firenze 1967)

On literary papyri as symbols:

T. Birt, Die Buchrolle in der Kunst (Leipzig 1907; out of date)

G.M. Parássoglou, Scrittura e Civiltà 3 (1979) 5-21 (on the scribal posture)

G. Cavallo, in Società romana e impero tardoantico 4 (Roma & Bari 1986) 83-172

((c) Peter van Minnen 1994)

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Last updated by Suzanne Corr on 5/10/95