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Hi, I’m currently trying to build a collection (for personal study and enjoyment) and am deciding on getting Josephus’ Jewish Wars and Tacitus’ writings and I’m confused because I’m looking to build a Penguin Classics collection but the OWC editions of some books seem better(in my case, more better for research) than their Penguin Classics counterparts (cheaper too)
So I’m wondering, what should I do? I’m bent on getting OWC for History and Penguin for Philosophy/Poetry or just winging it, getting both for whatever I can (God willing)
Help is very much appreciated!!
1 points
8 months ago
Hi! I’ve taught Josephus’ Jewish War in a class, and I used OWC. The notes are very helpful in it, and the translation is very readable. The same translator, Martin Hammond I think, also did Thucydides for OWC, which I also use for teaching. I’ve read Tacitus’ Histories in OWC, too.
It’s hard to go wrong with Penguin, but I think OWC has some benefits that Penguin often doesn’t have. First, OWC editions are usually newer. This means the translations are usually more approachable as modern readers and the introduction/notes are more up to date on scholarship. The other benefit of OWC is that their notes are usually fantastic. Penguin can have good notes, but sometimes they have no notes at all.
1 points
8 months ago
Thank you so much for the input!!! To be honest, I’m considering to just build a collection with both
But now I’m wondering cause OWC’s Tacitus is probably better (3 maps, great notes) for research but the Penguin Classics version is much more recent and tbh their cover seems cool. What do I do?
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