Forthcoming: John Tzetzes, Commentary on Hermogenes

We're delighted to share further details about the edition of John Tzetzes' Commentary on Hermogenes, now accepted for publication in Sources in Early Poetics, provided by its authors, Aglae, Baukje, and Elisabetta:

'This four-volume edition under the general editorship of Aglae Pizzone will be the first to make available the ambitious commentary on Hermogenes drafted in verse by the Byzantine grammarian John Tzetzes (c. 1110–1180). Tzetzes was one of the most vocal intellectuals active in Constantinople during the Komnenian era. While his commentary tells us much about the literary education and rhetorical thought of the time, Tzetzes’ autograph glosses in the most important manuscript witness, Leiden, Universiteitsbibliotheek, Vossianus Graecus Q1, give vivid insight into twelfth-century practices of patronage and publishing. Like Tzetzes’ other works, the commentary is extremely self-referential and explicitly refers to a school setting. It is thus a valuable source of information on the author’s life and scholarly production, as well as his teaching practice and classroom dynamics. Each of the four volumes will cover one of the Hermogenean treatises: On Issues (Aglae Pizzone), On Invention (Baukje van den Berg), On Types of Style and On the Method of Forcefulness (Elisabetta Barili). More soon!'