The Dissemination of Texts in the High Empire

There were in the ancient world books that circulated without the direct authorization of authors, and versions of texts that competed with one another. These texts were disseminated before an author could emend them and release them to the public. This article focuses on books from the point of view of the author who wrote them, sometimes left them incomplete, distributed them informally, or lost sight of them. It argues that we should recognize that there was a difference between those books that had been emended by an author and subsequently released, and those that for various reasons circulated without the author's full consent or knowledge.