Corpus-Paul

["Stephen C. Carlson" <scarlson AT mindspring.com>]

Dale Walker <jilldale AT rcn.com> wrote:
>>I'm picking up on "earlier edition of the letter ... in the MS
>>tradition," noting the singular "letter."  My understanding of
>>the MS tradition for Paul is that the Pauline letters circulated
>>in letter collections, not separately.  Once the letter collection
>>has been published, it is doubtful that the separate letters would
>>continue to be copied separately from much longer.
>
>On my assumption of pseudonymity within the pauline corpus, then
>the letter collection expanded, so speaking of a single publication
>and a single editor is not acceptable.

That's exactly why I said "in letter collections" and later wrote "then
augmented after the writer's death."

>(Another assumption is that
>genuine paulines were collected first, and pseudonymous letters were
>added to the collection later.) Multiple publications requires multiple
>editors, which makes me suspicious of confidence in the MS
>tradition.

Confidence in the MS tradition is appropriate for works after they have
been published or widely circulated.  For example, Gamble's treatment
of Romans suggests that different editions of Paul's letters have left
some traces in the MS tradition (Harry Gamble, Jr., The Textual History
of the Letter to the Romans [Studies & Documents 42; Grand Rapids,
Mich.: Eerdmans, 1977]).  Even variants related to Marcion's edition
shows up in the MS tradition for the Western text of Paul.

If 2 Cor. was indeed composed of multiple letters, I would expect
that its initial publication in the form we have it today must have been
sufficiently early, before the smaller letters themselves would have
gathered for publication on their own.

>>Trobisch,
>>based on analogous letter writers like Cicero, argues that often
>>the first edition of a letter collection is made during the author's
>>lifetime, and then augmented after the writer's death.
>
>This analogy with Cicero confuses me. Cicero near the end of his
>lifetime suggested a collection of his letters, and with his secretary
>may have made a modest beginning to one, but credit is usually
>given to his secretary for compiling the massive corpus that has
>come down to us, and it was done after Cicero was dead, maybe
>during the reign of Augustus, maybe a few decades later.

Apologies for any confusion from my imprecise language.  Cicero did
contemplate publication of his letters and began editing some of the
letters for publication, but Cicero was executed before his project was,
so they were not, in fact, published by Tiro until later.  Pliny the
Younger published Books 1-9 during his lifetime, with Book 10 coming
after his death.  See generally, Michael Trapp, ed., Greek and Latin
Letters: An Anthology with Translation (Cambridge: 2003) 13-15.

Stephen Carlson

--
Stephen C. Carlson, 
mailto:scarlson AT mindspring.com 
"Poetry speaks of aspirations, and songs chant the words."  Shujing 2.35