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[ SOLD OUT ] TRÄNKLE, H., Die Sprachkunst des Properz und die Tradition der lateinischen Dichtersprache. Franz Steiner, Wiesbaden, 1960. 190p. Sewn. Front cover slightly creased. Small tear in front cover near head spine. Series: Hermes, Einzelschriften, Heft 15. 'This illuminating study is prompted by dissatisfaction with Neumann's influential dissertation 'De cottidiani sermonis apud Propertium proprietatibus', which represents the poet as lapsing into colloquialisms such as the greater 'elegantia' of his contemporary Tibullus did not allow. Tränkle rightly urges that Propertius was highly word-conscious and deliberate in his choice of vocabulary; he adopted colloquialisms only when they suited the tone he intended. But much that has been regarded as colloquial was also archaic, and whether Propertius intended a colloquial or an archaic effect must be judged by the word's immediate company. (...) But Tränkle's book is not just a corrective on the subject of colloquialisms; it is more generally concerned with Propertius' diction. Besides some necessarilu speculative but stimulating pages on possible debts to Gallus, and a discussion of the borrowings from Virgil, he gives three lists, provided with an instructive commentary: (1) archaisms, (2) new formations, ne usages, new constructions, (3) unpoetical words fro meveryday or technical vocabulary. There is a fourth list of 'converstaional' phrases. (...) The final chapter examines some poems in which the level of style shifts. (...) The book greatly helps to sharpen appreciation of the effects that Propertius intended by his language. (...) This book has the great merit of combining lexicographical research with sensitive literary appreciation. It makes a noteworthy contribution to the understanding of Propertius' 'ars', particularly in the more developend form displayed in the later books.' (F.H. SANDBACH in The Classical Review (New Series), 55-57). (Antiquarian) (approx. delivery time: undeliverable)