The genre of commentaries of A. D. Cantemir on his translation of “The epistles” by Horace

The article is devoted to the problem of the genre of commentaries on the translation of “The Epistles” of Horace made by A. D. Cantemir. In particular, a genre structure of remarks is studied in the article. In preparation of the translation and commentaries on it Cantemir used West-European editions of Horace's works, prevalently A. Dacier's edition. But compared to West-European editors he wrote notes not on the Latin text but on his own translation. Therefore, his commentaries do not copy Dacier's notes. He cut some of them and extended others. His comments are divided into historical that contain a variety of details on the ancient world among others the names of Roman dishes, explanations of the philosophic ideas of the Antiquity, and philological ones that comprise the interpretation of Horatian images and complicated expressions of the Latin text. The notes on Russian historical reality and various encyclopedic data constitute a separate category of the commentaries. Thus, Cantemir's commentaries on his translation form a kind of encyclopedia both of the Ancient world and of contemporary knowledge and ideas.