Erasmus, Jean Le Clerc, and the Principle of the Harder Reading

Abstract

Scholars of history have finally set to work on the history of scholarship. It is strange to report that they have neglected the history of their own intellectual tradition, but it is so. J. E. Sandys’ three-volume History of Classical Scholarship has of course long been available to serve as the basic source of information on the subject. But Sandys’ work presents chiefly a chronological overview of names, dates, titles, and anecdotes bearing on classical scholars and their work. What has been lacking is a survey of the development of scholarly thought and methods, based on an analysis of the principles employed by past scholars in their work. Synthetic studies are now available which suggest the broad outlines along which scholarship developed.