The Delphin Classics or Ad usum Delphini was a series of annotated editions of the Latin classics, intended to be comprehensive, which was originally created in the 17th century.
The first volumes were created in the 1670s for Louis, le Grand Dauphin, heir of Louis XIV (“Delphini” is the Latinization (genitive) of Dauphin), and were written entirely in Latin. Thirty-nine scholars contributed to the series, which was edited by Pierre Huet with assistance from several co-editors, including Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet and Anne Dacier. The main features included the main Latin texts; a paraphrase in the margins or below in simpler Latin prose (an ordo verborum); extended notes on specific words and lines, mainly about history, myth, geography, or natural sciences; and indices. One useful pedagogical feature of this series is that it keeps students reading and working in the target language (Latin)."Favorite Commentaries: Terence Tunberg" in Dickinson Classical Commentaries Blog March 4, 2013 accessed on Jan. 23, 2019.
The original volumes each had an engraving of Arion and a dolphin, accompanied by the inscription in usum serenissimi Delphini (for the use of the most serene Dauphin). The collection includes 64 volumes published from 1670 to 1698.Volpilhac-Auger, Catherine. "La collection Ad usum Delphini : entre érudition et pédagogie." In: Histoire de l'éducation. n° 74, 1997. Les Humanités classiques, sous la direction de Marie-Madeleine Compère et André Chervel. pp. 203-214. Volpilhac-Auger says the volumes were published mainly between 1673 and 1691, but that the last appeared in 1730.Volpilhac-Auger, Catherine, Martine Furno, and Université de Grenoble 3. 2005. La Collection Ad Usum Delphini. Des Princes. Grenoble: ELLUG.
Beginning in 1819, a different series of Latin classics was published in England under the name Valpy's Delphin Classics by Abraham John Valpy.Delphin Classics (A. J. Valpy) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved on 1 April 2017. That series was edited by George Dyer, who divided up the works of the same authors into 143 volumes. This series mainly reprinted the commentary of the original Ad usum Delphini series, with updated texts and bibliographies from editions published in the intervening century. Both series were popular in Europe and the Americas. The first American edition was published in Philadelphia in 1804 while one European edition was published in Bassan as late as 1844.
Editors of the Ad usum Delphini consciously censored classical works, deleting from the main texts passages they deemed obscene. The expression Ad usum Delphini is therefore sometimes used to refer to other texts which were expurgated because they contained passages considered inappropriate for the target audience (such as the youth).
Publishing history (Taken from Volpilhac-Auger p. 214.Volpilhac-Auger, Catherine. "La collection Ad usum Delphini : entre érudition et pédagogie." In: Histoire de l'éducation. n° 74, 1997. Les Humanités classiques, sous la direction de Marie-Madeleine Compère et André Chervel. pp. 203-214, p. 214. Also at Open Edition Books) Author Editor Date and place of publication, Number of volumes Link to online edition Sallustius Daniel Crispin Paris, 1674 at Google BooksPhaedrus Pierre Danet Paris, 1675at Google Books another Florus Anne Lefèvre Paris, 1674at Google BooksTerentius Nicolas le Camus Paris, 1675at Google Books Cornelius Nepos Nicolas Courtin Paris, 1675at Google BooksVelleius Paterculus Robert Riguez, S. J. Paris, 1675at Google BooksPanegyrici Veteres Jacques de la Beaune, S. J. Paris, 1676at Google BooksJustinius Pierre Joseph Cantel, S. J. Paris, 1676at Google BooksClaudianus Guillaume Pyrrhon (ou Pyron) Paris, 1677at Google BooksJulius Caesar Jean Goduin, professeur à Paris Paris, 1678at Google BooksQuintus Curtius Michel le Tellier, S. J. Paris, 1678at Google BooksManilius Michel La Faye (ou Dufay); Pierre Daniel Huet, Remarques sur Manilius, et Julius Caesar Scaliger, Notes Paris, 1679at Google BooksPlautus Jacques de l'Ouvre Paris, 1679, 2 vol.at Google BooksTitus Livius Jean Douiat Paris, 1679,6 vol.at Google BooksValerius Maximus Pierre Joseph Cantel, S. J. Paris, 1679at Google BooksBoethius Pierre Cally, professeur à Caen Paris, 1680at Google BooksDictys Cretensis et Dares de Phrygie Anne Dacier, fille de Tanneguy Lefebvre Paris, 1680at Google BooksLucretius Michel La Faye (ou Dufav) Paris, 1680at Google BooksMartialis Vincent Colesson, professeur de droit Paris, 1680at Google BooksAulus Gellius Jacques Proust, S. J. Paris, 1681at Google BooksAurelius Victor Anne Dacier, fille de Tanneguy Lefebvre Paris, 1681at Google BooksSextus Pompeius Festus et Verrius Flaccus André Dacier Paris, 1681at Google BooksCicero, Omnes qui ad artem oratoriam pertinent libri Jacques Proust, S. J. Paris, 1682,2 vol.at Google BooksTacitus Julien Pichon Paris, 1682,4 vol.at Google BooksVergilius Charles de la Rue, S. J. Paris, 1675 Paris, 1682at Google BooksEutropius Anne Dacier, fille de Tanneguy Lefebvre Paris, 1683at Google BooksCicero, Orationes Charles de Mérouville, S. J. Paris, 1684, 3 vol.at Google BooksJuvenalis et Persius Louis Desprez Paris, 1684at Google BooksSuetonius Augustin Babelon Paris, 1684at Google BooksCatullus, Tibullus et Propertius Philippe Dubois Paris, 1685,2 vol. at Google BooksCicero, Epistulae ad Familiares Philibert Quartier Paris, 1685at Google BooksPlinius, Naturalis Historia Jean Hardouin, S. J. Paris, 1685,5 vol.at Google BooksStatius Claude Berault Paris, 1685, 2 vol.at Google BooksPrudentius Etienne Chamillard, S. J. Paris, 1687at Google BooksApuleius Jules Fleury, chanoine de Chartres Paris, 1688, 2 vol.at Google BooksCicero, Opera Philosophica François L'Honoré, S. J. Paris, 1689at Google BooksOvidius Naso Daniel Crispin Lyon, 1689,4 vol.at Google BooksHoratius Flaccus Louis Desprez Paris, 1691,2 vol.at Google BooksPlinius, Naturalis Historia Jean Hardouin, S. J. Paris, 1723, 3 vol. in fol. (nouv. édition)1723 ed. at Google BooksAusonius Jules Fleury; Jean-Baptiste Souchay Paris, 1730at Google Books
19th century London Valpy editions Author Editor Date and place of publication, Number of volumes Link to online edition Julius Caesar Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1819 2 volumes at Google Books Vergilius Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1819 9 volumes at Google Books Sallustus Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1820 2 volumes at Google Books Claudianus Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1821 4 volumes at Google Books Eutropius Breviarium historiae Romanae (Abridgment of Roman History). London, 1821 1 volume at Google Books Ovidius Naso Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1821 10 volumes at Google Books Tacitus Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1821 10 volumes at Google Books Catullus Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1822 2 volumes at Google Books Cornelius Nepos Vitae excellentium imperatorum. (Lives of the Excellent Commanders). London, 1822 2 volumes at Google Books Florus Epitome Rerum Romanarum (Epitome of Roman History. London, 1822 2 volumes at Google Books Justinius Historiae Philippicae (Philippic Histories). London, 1822 2 volumes at Google Books Juvenalis Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1822 2 volumes at Google Books Velleius Paterculus Historia Romana (Roman History). London, 1822 1 volume at Google Books Phaedrus Fabulae Aesopiae (Fables of Aesop). London, 1822 2 volumes at Google Books Propertius Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1822 2 volumes at Google Books Tibullus Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1822 1 volume at Google Books Ausonius Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1823 3 volumes at Google Books Boethius De Consolatione Philosophiae (The Consolation of Philosophy). London, 1823 1 volume at Google Books Lucretius De Rerum Natura Libri Sex. (Six Books on the Nature of Things). London, 1823 4 volumes at Google Books Martialis Epigrammata (Epigrams). London, 1823 3 volumes at Google Books Valerius Maximus Factorum Dictorumque Memorabilium Libri Novem (Nine Books on Memorable Deeds and Sayings). London, 1823 3 volumes at Google Books Aulus Gellius Noctes Atticae (Attic Nights). London, 1824 4 volumes at Google Books Prudentius. Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1824 3 volumes at Google Books Statius Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1824 4 volumes at Google Books Terentius Comoediae Sex (Six Comedies). London, 1824 4 volumes at Google Books Apuleius Opera omnia (Complete Works). London, 1825 7 volumes at Google Books Quintus Curtius De Rebus gestis Alexandri Magni libri superstites. (All the Books That Survive of the Histories of Alexander the Great of Macedon). London, 1825 4 volumes at Google Books Dares de Phrygie and Dictys Cretensis De Bello Trojano (The Trojan War). London, 1825 1 volume at Google Books Horatius Flaccus Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1825 5 volumes at Google Books Sextus Pompeius Festus and Verrius Flaccus De Verborum Significatione (On the Meaning of Words). London, 1826 3 volumes at Google Books Plinius Naturalis Historiae Libri XXXVII London, 1826 15 volumes at Google Books Suetonius Opera Omnia (Complete Works). London, 1826 3 volumes at Google Books Titus Livius Historiarum Libri Qui Supersunt. (History Books Which Have Survived). London, 1828 27 volumes at Google Books Manilius Astronomicon (Astrology). London, 1828 2 volumes at Google Books Panegyrici Veteres Panegyrici Veteres (Old Panegyrics). London, 1828 6 volumes at Google Books Aurelius Victor Historia Romana (Roman History). London, 1829 2 volumes at Google Books Plautus Comoediae (Comedies). London, 1829 5 volumes at Google Books Cicero Opera (Works). London, 1830 15 volumes at Google Books
Reception and influence The Ad usum Delphini collection was referred to by E.T.A. Hoffmann in Lebensansichten des Katers Murr (1819).Lebensansichten des Katers Murr Project Gutenberg Retrieved on 23 April 2020. „Sie sind, unterbrach ihn der Prinz, ein spaßhafter Mann.“ — Ganz und gar nicht, fuhr Kreisler fort, ich liebe zwar den Spaß, aber nur den schlechten, und der ist nun wieder nicht spaßhaft. Gegenwärtig wollt' ich gern nach Neapel gehen, und beim Molo einige gute Fischer- und Banditenlieder aufschreiben ad usum delphini. (English translation: "You are, the prince interrupted, a jolly man." - Not at all, Kreisler continued, I love fun, but only bad, and it's not fun again. At present I would like to go to Naples and write down some good fishermen's and bandit songs ad usum delphini at the Molo.) The Ad usum Delphini collection was referred to by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in Devereux, Book IV (1829):Edward Bulwer-LyttonDevereux Project Gutenberg Retrieved on 23 April 2020. let me turn to Milord Bolingbroke, and ask him whether England can produce a scholar equal to Peter Huet, who in twenty years wrote notes to sixty-two volumes of Classics, for the sake of a prince who never read a line in one of them?" "We have some scholars," answered Bolingbroke; "but we certainly have no Huet. It is strange enough, but learning seems to me like a circle: it grows weaker the more it spreads. We now see many people capable of reading commentaries, but very few indeed capable of writing them."
Honoré de Balzac III: Ève et David, later Les souffrances de l'inventeur, (1843):Honoré de Balzac Eve and David, translated by Ellen Marriage 1999 Project Gutenberg Retrieved on 23 April 2020. History is of two kinds--there is the official history taught in schools, a lying compilation ad usum delphini; and there is the secret history which deals with the real causes of events--a scandalous chronicle.
There is a reference to the Delphin Classics in Part I, Chapter 5 of Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure (1895),Jude The Obscure at Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg Retrieved on 23 April 2020. where young Jude, trying to educate himself by reading while delivering bread from a horse and cart,