I don't think Catullus counts. 'Little book' without the 'go' is not an
'envoi' in the required sense. Yes, the novi poeti wanted to vindicate their
writing short polished poems; but Catullus also put his hand to epic-type
poems, nos. 63 and 64, so he was not quite sure of his credo. I've always
thought Martial was the originator; does Horace have 'Go' + little book'? I
don't think so. I'm pretty sure no Greek did. (Sorry, only caught this
debate as it was ending.) Penny.
-----Original Message-----
From: Sidney-Spenser Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Kevin Farnham
Sent: 04 November 2005 00:28
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Goe little booke => summary, compendium, and thanks
To summarize the "Goe little booke" research: the earliest known use of
the phrase/device is in the poems of Catullus, in about 50 BC. Here, the
word "little" was significant, since small, highly crafted art was
viewed by the artist as more perfect, nimble, and perhaps uniquely
potent (because of its concentration of meaning), compared with the
verbose epics of the past (S. Willett's info, my quite possibly
incorrect extrapolation of the artist's intent).
The phrase appears in the following (some of which are definitely not
"little" books):
~50 BC: Catullus: poems use "libellus" (= "little book") "in the sense
of a small-scale volume of highly-polished verse."
~15 BC: Horace, Epistles
~10 AD: Ovid, Tristia
~92 AD: Statius, "Thebaid"
~1385: Chaucer, "Troilus and Crysede"
~1500: Stephen Hawes, "The Pastime of Pleasure"
~1590: Spenser, "The Shepheardes Calender"
~1621: Robert Burton, "Anatomy of Melancholy"
~1820: Byron, "Don Juan"
~1890: Robert Louis Stevenson, "New Poems"
~1890: Oscar Wilde
Thanks to all who contributed!
Kevin Farnham
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