The Commentary: Interpreting the Text

Abstract

Toland’s plans for the commentary were presented in the form of a critique of the efforts of his predecessors in the Ciceronian editing, and as such a survey of those efforts is provided, contrasting the minimalist approach of Aldo Manuzio (1502–1523), the textual commentary of Piero Vettori, and the more elaborate explanatory commentaries of Paolo Manuzio (1540) and Fulvio Orsini (1584). Toland’s analysis of the two primary forms of explanatory commentary—pedagogical and philological—is evaluated, as is his condemnation of the exploitation of the commentary as a vehicle for erudition and consequently editorial vanity. Toland’s concern over the exploitation of editorial intervention is situated in relation to one of the primary debates of the Battle of the Books: the ‘pedantry’ of philology.