the more difficult reading

Who reads
Incessantly, and to his reading brings not
A spirit and judgment equal or superior,
(And what he brings what needs he elsewhere seek?)
Uncertain and unsettled still remains,
Deep-versed in books and shallow in himself.
-John Milton, Paradise Regained

The full expression is lectio difficilior preferenda est, "the more difficult reading is to be preferred." The bane of my existence as a Classics major, this principle of codicology--the study of manuscripts (MSS) and the transmission of texts--states that if you have two MSS offering different but plausible readings at a certain passage, you should prefer the one which is (or seems to be) harder to understand, as long as it does not involve bad grammar. The idea is that a scribe may copy a text from a dirty, damaged, or sloppy exemplar and fill in a gap in sense with something plausible. The likelihood is that the copyist would fill in meaning with less understanding than the original author, and he is unlikely to invent highly difficult or ornate syntax just to fill in a blank (copyists tended to be modestly-educated drudges).

In other words (dogooderlawyer has insisted that I explain this concept "in stupid layman's terms"), if you have two manuscripts of a text (ancient texts, like the folios of Shakespeare's plays, for instance, come from manuscripts transcibed by hand) that differ in a particular sentence by one word, then you have a dilemma about the authenticity of both. Let's say one reads, "the tree was in the forest," and the second reads, "the three was in the forest." It is illogical to assume that an uneducated scribe would invent the more puzzling phrase. So the first is the scribe's invention, and the second, the authentic reading. Thus, the more difficult reading is to be preferred.

I created this blog principally to write about the books I read. Ever the literature dork, I find that I miss the careful critical analysis and writing exercise that came with class papers. And I like the relationship between author and scribe contained in the above principle; casting myself in the role of the humble amanuensis, I certainly claim "less understanding [of a text] than the original author." But I also like the challenge presented by said principle; as much as I grumped upon discovering MSS lacunae in Herodotus, I have to respect the imperative to dig deeper, to try harder.

Thus is born lectio difficilior. I already anticipate journaling about more than just literature, especially as the Astros have just earned their first World Series berth. So stay tuned for exuberant updates on the 'Stros and silly stories of the security guard at the F.B.I. building who encourages me with a different platitude as I run by each evening. I invite your readership and comment.