Greek and Latin Classics in the Biblioteca Universal collection (II)

Abstract

This work is part of the study of the dissemination of Greek and Latin classics through translations published in Spanish collections in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It focuses on the Biblioteca Universal, a collection created by Joaquín Pi y Margall, and describes the collection’s main characteristics and those of the classic authors’ volumes contained in that collection. The Biblioteca Universal has peculiar characteristics that make it a representative example of a certain type of dissemination, directed at the general public by maintaining a very affordable price. The volumes published in it therefore achieved a wide circulation, not only among the general public but also among the intellectuals of the time. Having presented in the first part of the paper the general characteristics of the collection and the translations published by Angel Lasso de la Vega, it will be studied now the rest of translators and versions and some conclusions on the relevance of this collection as a vehicle for disseminating the classics will be drawn.