The title of this work literally means The Book of Catullus of Verona and is a careful perusal by Robinson Ellis of the oeuvre of the Roman poet, who is generally thought to have lived between 84 and 54 BCE. In this second edition of 1878, Ellis (1834–1913), whose monumental Commentary on Catullus is also reissued in this series, demonstrates the ancestry of the text of the poems established by Renaissance scholars from the surviving manuscript variants, supplying a text with suggested readings and emendations and a nearly complete listing of citations or references that have been made to Catullus throughout the centuries, and engaging with the work of fellow scholars Ribbeck and Westphal. Ellis offers a detailed reading of the construction of the poet's engaging verse and supports the identification of the 'Lesbia' of whom Catullus writes so glowingly and passionately with Clodia Metelli.
