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Classics

Submitted by mccollo on April 13, 2011 - 17:15
Materials are acquired in Latin, Ancient and Modern Greek, English, Arabic, French, German, Italian and Spanish. A few Armenian editions of classical authors are also acquired, sometimes, where necessary, in English translation.
 
To provide the materials necessary to support the undergraduate and graduate courses of instruction, the graduate thesis research program and the research activities of the faculty. In order to accomplish this, the Department is building comprehensive research collections in selected areas of study.
 
Material is acquired from Britain, Germany, Holland, Scandinavia, France, Belgium, Italy, Greece, Spain, N. Africa and the United States, with occasional acquisitions from other countries. A number of periodicals and archaeological reports come from Greece.

Rare books are occasionally acquired, if necessary. The period covered by Classics courses extends from prehistoric times to the present, but the main emphasis is from the eighth century B.C. to the fifth century AD. # Publications acquired range in date from the invention of printing to the present with the major emphasis on publications of the last 100 years. The Department actively seeks second-hand and antiquarian publications of out-of-print standard works needed to support teaching and research.,

  • Books: current publications and out-of-print: editions, anthologies, commentaries, lexicons, archaeological reports, monographs, critical works, works on metre, scholia, indexes, monograph series, occasional publications, etc.
  • Periodicals: current and backfile: in general it is the Department's policy not to recommend publications in microform, but some scarce and important items are available only in that form.
  • Microforms: occasional scarce publications are obtained in this form, e.g. Scholars Press Papyrology on Microfiche; the photo graphical archive of the American Academy in Rome. It is often impossible to obtain doctoral dissertations except on microfilm.
  • Facsimiles of manuscripts and of ancient works in non-Western alphabets are occasionally acquired.
  • Theses from German universities, especially of the period from about 1875 to the present, are acquired in large numbers. These are necessary for the graduate work and research of the department.
  • Plans, maps, etc. of ancient sites, cities, etc. are acquired. These include historical maps and atlases but, generally speaking, not rare maps.
  • Transactions of learned societies, symposia, and proceedings of international conferences, etc. are acquired.
  • Bibliographies, including specialized bibliographies on particular authors or subject areas, are acquired. Lists of the holdings of major Classics libraries (e.g. the Widener shelf-lists) are acquired.
  • Encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries and other works of reference are acquired.

Types of Material Excluded

  • Recordings and tapes: the Department has no intention at present of building up a collection of these, though occasional acquisitions may be recommended.
  • Slides: the Department purchases its own slides for instructional purposes, and these are currently housed in the Slide Library of the Art and Art History Department.

There are overlaps between the collection policy of this Department and those of the Departments of History, Art and Art History, Philosophy and Religious Studies. It has not been possible to devise clearly defined, comprehensive formulae to deal with these overlaps. There is a measure of cooperation between departments and some agreements of a general nature. The long 18th century (c.1650-1800), Russell and the 20th century, and Cultural Studies have been declared Faculty of Humanities priority areas for resource allocation. ,

Classical Language and Literature

  • Greek and Latin philology, language, and linguistics. (A)

  • Ancient Greek literature. (A)

  • Ancient Roman literature. (A)

  • Modern Greek literature. (C)

  • Mediaeval and later Greek and Latin texts. (B)

About three-quarters of all acquired works are in this area: editions, commentaries, indexes, criticism, etc. are purchased.
 
The Department is attempting to acquire a complete collection of texts of Greek and Latin authors, especially in the area of Roman Studies.

Classical Philosophy (A)

The Department acquires texts in the original languages and commentaries on them. Current works about Classical philosophy are acquired by the Philosophy Department.

Classical Art and Archaeology (A)

As well as monographs and serials, we collect corpora (e.g. of mosaics, vases, statues) and collections of artifacts, excavation reports, museum guides, studies of town sites, catalogues of coins, inscriptions, etc., atlases and maps, and topographical studies with special emphasis on Italy and North Africa in the Roman period. The Department is attempting to build up a supporting collection of representative material for the study of the art and archaeology of the Roman provinces and Greece. Much of this material will be in foreign languages.

Classical History (A)

There is a considerable overlap with the Department of History, though there is a measure of consultation between the departments on library matters.

Palaeography and Papyri (B)

History of Classical Scholarship (B)

Classical Science and Medicine (B)

Classical Religion and Mythology (B)

Classical Law (B)

Greek and Roman Epigraphy (A/C)

An original agreement that the Department of Classics would collect in the area of Roman epigraphy and that the Department of History would collect in Greek epigraphy has not worked at all in practice. The Department of Classics will continue to recommend acquisition of those epigraphical works which are necessary to its programs of instruction and research.

Greek and Roman Numismatics (B)

Collection in this area is a shared responsibility of the Departments of Classics and History.

Arts and Social Sciences