Maturin prided himself on being a good classical scholar.

In The Wild Irish Boy (1808), Maturin has one character write to a friend asking him to post him his ‘Elzevir Virgil’ (vol. I, p. 63.)

The great Dutch publishing house of Elzevir produced several editions of Virgil’s Aeneid during the 17^th century, the most widely admired of which was this 1636 edition.

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Citation:

Virgil, Opera; nunc emendatiora (Leiden, 1636).

,
Marsh's Library Exhibits: ‘Ragged, Livid, & On Fire: The Wanderings of Melmoth at 200’ curated by Christina Morin and Jason McElligott,
accessed March 29, 2026,
https://web.marshlibrary.ie/digi/exhibits/show/Melmoth/item/758