This volume contains S.'s translation of Books 4–6 of Boethius' second edition or larger commentary on Aristotle's On Interpretation. It is among the most recent in a series that by now needs no introduction, the Ancient Commentators on Aristotle (ACA), edited by Richard Sorabji.

That Boethius' work has a place in the series does merit a brief note. Not only is this work not part of the Commentaria in Aristotelem Graeca (CAG), of which the majority of the ACA volumes are translations, but Boethius is the only Latin author represented in this series (though some of Proclus' works translated for the ACA survive only in Latin translations). It is in the preface to Book 2 of his longer Peri hermenias commentary that Boethius sets out his intention to translate and comment on all of the works of Plato and Aristotle, and demonstrate their agreement on every important philosophical issue. This statement of his project is the most often cited example of Boethius' Neoplatonic bona fides, and almost single-handedly justifies his place in this series. Boethius' commentary preserves much of what we know about numerous Greek commentaries that have been lost (one of the main reasons for Boethius' prolixity in this commentary is his tendency to expound the views of earlier commentators). It was also, along with his other commentaries and translations of Aristotle's Organon, the primary conduit for logic in the Latin West during the Middle Ages. For these reasons an English translation, the first of Books 4–6 (Book 3 appears in an earlier ACA volumeFootnote ¹), will be greatly welcomed by those interested in the history of Aristotelian logic. In particular S.'s translation is important for those interested in questions, like those raised recently by T. Suto and M. Mignucci, about differences between Boethius and Aristotle on propositions.Footnote ²

The volume reproduces the same introduction (by Sorabji), as well as the same (very brief) translator's note, select bibliography, English–Latin glossary and Latin–English index found in S.'s translation of Books 1–3 published in 2010. The indexes of names and subjects are specific to this volume. Nowhere is it stated that this is the second part of S.'s translation of the complete work. The ACA series does not number individual volumes, and this makes good sense when different translators divide up a long commentary and the results are published out of order, or when there is no plan to produce a complete translation. The voluminous works of Alexander of Aphrodisias provide examples of both of these rationales. However, even without numbering the volumes, there could be some reference to the previous volume in the introductory material. Sorabji's introduction is in fact much better suited to the earlier volume, as it makes little mention of Books 4–6 of Boethius' commentary, dwelling instead on Books 1–3. An introduction addressing the specific books found in the volume would have been desirable. Boethius himself re-introduces the work in the preface to Book 4, highlighting the obscura orationis series obscurissimis adiecta sententiis of Aristotle's work in his justification for writing so much about such a small work. J. Magee has noted the distinct difference in Boethius' tone in the preface to the second half of the work.Footnote ³

The lemmata in Boethius' commentary preserve much of his own translation of Aristotle's Peri hermenias, though as S. notes, this Latin translation ‘is not always identical with his separately published translation of the whole text of the de Interpretatione’ (p. 11). Boethius' translations of the Peri hermenias are renowned for their precise and literal rendering of Aristotle's Greek. A spot check of a dozen or so passages of S.'s work compared with the Latin (including various lemmata) suggests that S. has adopted Boethius' own standard of precision for his English translation.Footnote ⁴ While Boethius' fidelity to the Greek has resulted in sometimes severe criticisms of his prose style (Magee favours the term ‘rebarbartive’), S.'s English translation is clear and readable, and this despite the fact that a large part of Book 4 is concerned with what the meaning of ‘is’ is. One of the keys to the readability of the text is the very sensible conventions, in particular the use of italics and inverted commas to distinguish citations of Aristotle from specific propositions or phrases being discussed. This distinction is not as clear in Kretzmann's translation of Book 3. S.'s translation also relies on a much more sparing use of parenthetical Latin.

While new English translations of the Consolation of Philosophy continue to appear regularly, Boethius' theological tractates and commentaries on Aristotle have not fared as well. Not only do some of these works await English translations, many lack modern scholarly editions. S. and the ACA series have done a great service to students and non-specialists by making Boethius' second Peri hermenias commentary available in this fine translation.