I have raised as to its authenticity, more particularly,
of the last six books;—when, too, he remembers
how I have shown by facts, dates and circumstances
the period when that portion came into existence;—the
year when it was begun and the year when it was completed;—the
people who were engaged in its production;—the
writer who composed it;—the individual who
suggested it;—the book-collector who instigated
it;—the monk who transcribed it;—the
rich man who purchased it;—and, just now,
the author who made the first authentic mention of
it; and last, but not least, the condition (that is,
the exact age and undoubted spuriousness) of the oldest
MS. that we have of it:—all goes to prove
that, if not the whole work, at any rate, the last
Six Books of the Annals are a forgery;—and
a forgery, too, so audacious in its conception, and
so extraordinary in its bungling,—while
all the steps of its execution have been so distinctly
set forth according to data that have been given and
authorities that have been cited,—that
it seems to me to be nothing more nor less than sheer
obstinacy, after such clear demonstration, for any
body to entertain a doubt about it.
END OF BOOK THE THIRD.
BOOK THE FOURTH.
THE FIRST SIX BOOKS OF THE ANNALS.
Hunc lege quaeso librum, quem condidit ore disertus,
Et Latiae linguae Poggius ipse decus.
BEBELIUS. Utilissimus Liber.
CHAPTER I.
REASONS FOR BELIEVING THAT BRACCIOLINI WROTE BOTH
PARTS OF THE ANNALS.
I.—Improvement in Bracciolini’s means
after the completion of the forgery of the last part
of the Annals.—II. Discovery of the
first six books, and theory about their forgery.—III.
Internal evidence the only proof of their being forged.—IV.
Superiority of workmanship a strong proof.—V.
Further departure than in the last six books from
Tacitus’s method another proof.—VI.
The Symmetry of the framework a third proof.—VII.
Fourth evidence, the close resemblance in the openings
of the two parts.—VIII. The same tone
and colouring prove the same authorship.—IX.
False statements made about Sejanus and Antonius Natalis
for the purpose of blackening Tiberius and Nero.—X.
This spirit of detraction runs through Bracciolini’s
works.—XI. Other resemblances denoting
the same author.—XII. Policy given
to every subject another cause to believe both parts
composed by a single writer.—And XIII.
An absence of the power to depict differences in persons
and things.
