There they stand on the shelves, weary veterans with the marks of long service upon them: the school and college editions of Greek classics, rank upon rank, mostly in the sombre uniform of their period. For period pieces many of them are, as a glance at the date of original publication, with the long tale of subsequent reprints, will show. Their print has lost some of its early sharpness; the commentaries refer to grammars and the like that have long since passed into oblivion; and the occasional prefatory note, touching briefly on the principles of bowdlerization, brings back an echo of another age.