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PREFACE.
rials have been obtained from the stores of German erudition, and others of no less value from the productions of Donaldson, Prichard, "Winning, and Mure, among English scholars.
The main work itself embraces in its plan the whole range of Greek Literature, from the earliest periods down to the close of the Byzantine era, and, besides a brief account of each successive stage of development in the history of the Grecian mind, will be found to contain biographical sketches of all the most eminent writers who flourished within the limits just mentioned. To the list of their works there is also appended, in the case of each writer, a condensed account of the principal editions, prepared from the best bibliographical sources, and which, though necessarily brief, may not prove without its value. A rapid survey is also taken of the different schools of Greek philosophy, of the medical systems of Greece, and likewise of the advances made in, the cultivation of the mathematical sciences.
The earlier part of the work is based, in a great measure, upon the admirable history of Greek Literature by C. 0. Miiller, left unfinished at his death, and upon the labors of Mure and Ihne, from the latter of whom, in particular, the history of the Homeric controversy has chiefly been drawn. In general, the language and arrangement of these writers have been carefully retained, as far as was compatible with the system of condensation required throughout the work. The biographical sketches are taken, for the most part, from the excellent Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography, edited by Dr. Smith, a work the high price of which places it almost entirely out of the reach of American students. It is but fair, however, to state, that, in giving these sketches, additions have frequently been made from other sources, and not a few errors have been corrected in matters appertaining to chronology and literary history. Valuable materials have also been obtained from Clinton, Soholl, Bemhardy, Bode, and
