The alleged discovery of the missing codices of Livy by
Professor De Martino Fusco has become more mys- terious than ever. Professor De Martino Fusco, after having disobeyed temporarily the order of the Minister of Education to surrender himself and his documents, submitted himself on Tuesday to the specially-appointed Commission. He stated that he had discovered a docu- ment from which he learned that at a certain period a Neapolitan scribe had been entrusted with the task of transcribing the whole of Livy's History. He had followed up the indications given in that document. But where did the indications lead ? There we are baffled. The Professor simply declared that he was nearing the end he had in view when premature publicity upset all his plans. He promised a full explanation later. All this evasiveness means, we fear, that there has been no discovery at all of lost books. It is very difficult, however, to explain why Professor De Martino Fusco should have given encouragement to the idea, as he certainly did, that he had made a great discovery and why many distinguished and duly cautious Italian scholars should have believed in it.
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