Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy

1897

Special Collections B659 C2 E54

London: D. Nutt

Boethius (c. 480-524), a philosopher and statesman, was born in Rome into a wealthy family. A Hellenist, Boethius had fluent Greek, a rare talent at that time. During his incarceration by King Theodoric he wrote Consolation of Philosophy which takes the form of a dialogue between Boethius the philosopher and Philosophy personified. Supposedly translated by King Alfred (849-899) into Anglo-Saxon, and into English by Chaucer (1343-1400) and Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), this prose translation is by George Colville, first printed in 1556. The Catholic Church recognises Boethius as a saint and the recently retired pope, Benedict XVI, spoke of Boethius’ enduring relevance to Christians in a speech he gave in 2008. This is the Tudor library edition of 1897.