L. Amadeus salutem omnibus dicit.
I would like to begin reading Cicero’s letters, but I wasn’t certain where to start. Are there any suggestions from those well or moderately well read in Cicero’s writings?
Gratias plurimas!
The only resources known to me are here:
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cic.html
There’s ad Atticum:
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/epis.shtml
Ad Familiares:
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/fam.shtml
Ad Quintum:
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/fratrem.shtml
Ad Brutum:
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cicero/adbrutum.shtml
I am far from the level of “those well or moderately well read in Cicero’s writings”, but there are quite a lot of selected letters and orations of Cicero available(public domain books) on Google, e.g.:
Prichard & Bernard
Selected Letters of Cicero with notes for the use of schools
2nd ed. Oxford 1876
Frank Frost Abbott
Selected letters of Cicero: Edited, with Introduction and Notes
Ginn & Company, 1900
and so on. Hope you find them useful, and have a nice time with him.
Salve Luci
Vide quoque http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=cicero%20letters%20AND%20mediatype%3Atexts
D.R. Shackleton-Bailey’s editions. The Select Letters in the Cambridge Green and Yellow series is a reasonable place to start; from there you can move on to his comprehensive scholarly editions (likewise Cambridge) if you are so inclined.
I second this recommendation, as I own it and have enjoyed reading numerous letters from it. The notes provide adequate context on references and context, as well as occasional textual questions. The introductory material provides some background regarding Cicero’s life and Latin letter writing.
I think the most interesting thing about Cicero’s letters is the wide variety of styles he works with. He’ll switch between a loose colloquial style with his friends, and he shifts back into ornate periods when writing to various political figures.
Thank you all for the recommendations!
Where do I find the D.R. Shackleton-Bailey editions?