“This is an undergraduate translation of a Latin play, written to accompany the performance of the Menaechmi given under the direction of Professor F.C. Packard, Jr., by the Harvard Classical Club, March 19 and 20, 1930, at Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The text followed is in the main that of H.N. Fowler in his serviceable edition of the play. Some slight changes, mainly from Lindsay’s critical edition, were made in the form adopted for the performance, and some of these changes may be apparent in the present rendering. In particular it will be noticed that the Prologue was shortened here and there; the translation is by Spencer Brown, who took the part of the Prologue in the play. The numerous stage-directions are intended to suggest, as exactly as may be, Professor Packard’s interpretation of the stage business exhibited in the actual performance.
The rendering is not intended to be exactly literal [...]. The idiom has at times more of undergraduate intensity and modernity than some scenes severiores might approve. Let them remember that Plautus is speaking and that Plautus never entered a School of Deportment in his life. He would be more at home today on the boulevards than in the salon, and he would open both ears to the latest American slang. In a word, the Gentle Reader, and the stern one, should peruse these pages not as a translation of an ancient fabula palliata but as a “Comedy of Errors” very much up to date.” (from the Preface by E.K. Rand)
- Title: The Menaechmi of Plautus: An Undergraduate Translation
- Translators: Richard W. Hyde and Edward C. Weist
- Publisher: Harvard University Press
- Place: Cambridge, MA
- Year: 1930
- Printer: Murray Printing Company
- Length: 70pp
- Dimensions: 5” x 7.5” x 0.36”
- Condition: The paper binding appears to be original and is in fine condition. The color is an indeterminate gray and is significantly soiled and war. It is particularly tanned at the spine which also sports some cracking and separation. The binding is coming loose in some place but is still complete. No pages are missing. Pages are generally clean though tanned with age—no folds or tears. There is some writing in pencil. There is also some friction damage to the side of the text block. A name plate has been pasted to the inside front cover: "Rhoda Reynolds." An ink inscription sits on copyright page: "Spencer Brown."