About James Loeb
Now over a century old, the Loeb Classical Library is a venerable institution. But the series was a revolution when it was founded. Virginia Woolf was among those who first recognized and cheered that revolution:
“The Loeb Library, with its Greek or Latin on one side of the page and its English on the other, came as a gift of freedom… The existence of the amateur was recognized by the publication of this Library, and to a great extent made respectable… The difficulty of Greek is not sufficiently dwelt upon, chiefly perhaps because the sirens who lure us to these perilous waters are generally scholars [who] have forgotten…what those difficulties are. But for the ordinary amateur they are very real and very great; and we shall do well to recognise the fact and to make up our minds that we shall never be independent of our Loeb.”
Virginia Woolf, The Times Literary Supplement, 1917
James Loeb belongs to the most commanding personalities of the 20th century. Coming from a prosperous family, he lived for his musical interests and owned an outstanding collection of Greek, Etruscan and Roman artwork, which is now preserved in the State’s Antique Collection, located at Königsplatz in Munich. Without letting it be publically known, Loeb also financially supported innumerable institutions and private persons. James Loeb spent a great portion of his life at his self-designed estate in Murnau-Hochried. Since 2011 the estate is the home of the James Loeb Society. The main goals are:
1. To keep alive the memory of the name of James Loeb and his activities, and to preserve his “estate” in Hochried and Murnau.
2. To support Hochried Clinic, or – more precisely – the children, young people, and families who come to the clinic for help.
https://www.jamesloeb.de/en/home
