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Medieval Perry Numbers

Perry's compilation of Aesopic fables does extend pass Avianus into the Middle Ages, although Perry's attention to medieval sources is not systematic. What constitutes a fable, and how does Perry decide what to include and what not to include?

In some places throughout this website, you will find references to Perry numbers higher than 584, which form part of Perry's "medieval series." This is not a standard form of reference among medievalists, however.

There is a great need for a systematic index that can be used to reference the corpus of medieval Latin fables, which appear in many different variations from collection to collection.


You can find a compilation of Perry's index to the Aesopica in the gigantic appendix to his edition of Babrius and Phaedrus for the Loeb Classical Library (Harvard University Press: Cambridge, 1965). This book is an absolute must for anyone interested in the Aesopic fable tradition. Invaluable.