J.B.

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BOETHIUS' CONSOLATIONS OF PHILOSOPHY.

The celebrated treatise _De Consolatione Philosophiæ_, was translated
into English verse by John Walton, otherwise called Johannes Capellanus,
in the year 1410. A beautiful manuscript on parchment, of this
translation, is preserved in the British Museum (_Harl. MS._ 43.). Other
copies are amongst the archives of Lincoln Cathedral, Baliol College,
&c. It was printed in the Monastery of Tavestok in 1525, a copy of which
impression is of the utmost rarity. There is an English prose
translation by "George Colvil, alias Coldewell," printed by John Cawood,
4to. 1556. And again, _Boethius' Five Bookes of Philosophicall Comfort_,
translated by J.T., and printed at London in 12mo., 1609.

Viscount Preston's translation was _first_ printed in 8vo., 1695. The
edition of 1712, mentioned by your correspondent, was the _second_.
Boethius was again translated by W. Causton in 1730, and with notes and
illustrations, by the Rev. P. Ridpath, 8vo., 1785. The latter is, I
believe, an excellent translation; it is accompanied by a Life of
Boethius, drawn up with great care and accuracy. In 1789 a translation
by R. Duncan appeared at Edinburgh; and in 1792, an anonymous
translation was printed in London. The latter is said to be a miserable
performance.

King Alfred's Anglo-Saxon version, with an English translation and
notes, by J.S. Cardale, was printed at London, in 8vo., 1829.