Conyers Version
According to Bond (1937), this print, produced by George Conyers sometime between 1722 and 1739, shows the blending and combination of Seven Sages narratives in the 17th and 18th centuries. Conyers' text begins like other English iterations of the Historia Septem Sapientum narratives, and includes the expected run of 15 embedded tales. However, in order to "render this Book more Entertaining" (Bond, p. 495), the narrator explains, the text also includes four addition tales, usually found in the Erasto narratives: Zelus, Corpus Delicti, Puer Adoptatus, and Caepulla. This brings the total of narratives included here up to 19. There is a marked similarity here to the process exemplified by Francis Kirkman's Prince Erastus: 17th and 18th century redactors clearly believed that their audiences would be interested in more stories, or a more complete picture of the Seven Sages tale collection, and therefore added more narratives than were found in their particular version. However, just as Kirkman added stories typically found in the Historia tradition, the redactor of Conyer's text borrowed narratives from the Erasto - sticking to family Seven Sages tales, rather than inserting any moralising or antifeminist tales.
General Information
Language & Composition
Recorded Branch of This Secondary Version
- H (Historia Septem Sapientum)
- Czech Version H: Kronika sedmi mudrců
- Danish Version H
- Dutch Version H
- English Version H
- French Version H
- German Version H
- Hungarian Version H: Pontianus tsaszar historiaia
- Icelandic Version H
- Latin Version H
- Polish Version H
- Scots Version H: Rolland, Seuin Seages
- Spanish Version H: Los Siete Sabios de Roma
- Swedish Version H: Sju vise mästare
- Yiddish Version H
Pattern of Embedded Stories in This Version
| Has Short Title | Has Sequence Number | Has Narrator | Has Name Variation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arbor – The Tree | 1 | Empress | |
| Canis – The Faithful Dog | 2 | Bancillas | Pontillas |
| Aper – The Boar and the Fruit | 3 | Empress | |
| Puteus – The Well | 4 | Lentulus | |
| Gaza – The Treasure | 5 | Empress | |
| Avis – The Bird | 6 | Cato | Craton |
| Sapientes – The Wise Men | 7 | Empress | |
| Tentamina – The Test | 8 | Malquidras | Malquedrake |
| Virgilius – Virgil's Marvels | 9 | Empress | |
| Medicus – The Doctor | 10 | Josephas | Josephus |
| Senescalcus and Roma – The Steward, and Rome Beseiged | 11 | Empress | |
| Amatores – The Three Lovers | 12 | Cleophas | Cleophes |
| Inclusa – The Imprisoned Wife | 13 | Empress | |
| Vidua – The Widow | 14 | Solon | |
| Vaticinium and Amici | 15 | Prince | |
| Zelus – Zeal | 16 | ||
| Corpus Delicti – The Discovered Corpse | 17 | ||
| Puer Adoptatus – The Adopted Son | 18 |