234 SMYTH — PERICLE3 AND APOLLONIUS. [Oct. 7, 



Dutch Versions. 



The story of Apollonius entered the Netherlands through the 

 Gesta Romanorum, of the Dutch translation of which — Die Gesten 

 of gheschienissen van Ro7tien — there are three editions — Gouda, 

 1 48 1, Delft, 1483, and ZwoUe, 1484 (cf. Campbell, Annales de la 

 Typographie Neerlandaise an XVe Steele, 226, 227). 



The first popular version of the story apart from the Gesta, but 

 derived from it, appeared in Delft in 1493, entitled Die schoone ende 

 die Suuerlicke historie van Appollonius van Thyro. The book is 

 excessively rare ; only two copies, I believe, are known to exist — one 

 is in the Bibliotheque National of Paris,^ the other is in the library 

 of the Zeeland Society of Sciences at Middelburg (Zeeuwsch 

 Genootschap der Wetenschappen).^ The directors of the Society 

 permitted Dr. Georg Penon to borrow the little book (boekje) and 

 to copy it. His account of it is in his Bijdj-agen tot de Geschiedenis 

 der Nederlandsche Letterkunde, Groningen, 1880, pp. 109-113, and 

 the book itself is reprinted in the same work (123-182). Penon fol- 

 lows the original almost literally and indicates in footnotes the pas- 

 sages in which it differs from the Gesta,^ and occasionally appends 

 the reading of the Latin Historia, in Riese's edition. 



The resemblance of the folks-book to the Gesta is so marked that 

 Penon believes the former to have been a version made by a 

 bookseller who was impressed with the story as he found it in the 

 Gesta and who believed that it would make a popular book if 

 printed independently. Penon comments indignantly upon 

 Grasse's "guess" that the Netherland book was a translation from 

 the German of Steinhowel. " Woher das hollandische Volksbuch 

 ist, ob aus dem Deutschen, was am Wahrscheinlichsten ist, oder 

 unmittelbar aus dem Lateinischen, ist noch nicht entschieden," 

 says Grasse {Lehrbuch, ii, 3, 458), to which Penon replies, ^^Is nog 

 niet beslist ! Hoe komt de man bij zoo'n praatje? Wie zou beslis- 



1 The book was formerly in the library of the Hague, but was taken to Paris in 

 181 1 (cf. Campbell, Annales, '^. 267). 



2 The book is described by Campbell, Annales, No. 965, Hain Repertoriiim 

 Bibliographicii7n, 1303, and by Grasse and Brunet, but it was never seen by the 

 two latter. Even the learned librarian at the Hague (L, Ph. C. van den Bergh) 

 says in his Nederlandsche Volksi-ofuans, p. 158, that this book is known to him 

 only by name — "alleen bij naam kent." 



2 The copy of the Gesta used by Penon for comparison was the edition of 

 Johannes de Westfalia, 1484. 



