Primary source · Coptic (surviving in Georgian, Latin, Syriac)
The Letters of Antony
Antony the Great · c. AD 330–345
What this text is
Seven letters to the monasteries, attested by Jerome — 'letters of apostolic sense and speech' — urging self-knowledge as the door to the knowledge of God.
Profile of Anthony the Great →
Public-domain translations
Jerome's notice, On Illustrious Men 88 (NPNF, 1892)
Antony the monk… sent to various monasteries seven letters in Egyptian, of apostolic sense and speech, which have been translated into Greek. The chief of these is to the Arsinoites.
Manuscript witnesses
Georgian, Latin, Coptic & Arabic versions
6th c. onwardThe Coptic original survives only in fragments; the full corpus is triangulated from the versions.
Provenance
The Egyptian desert, c. AD 330–345 — seven letters of the first hermit
Editions & scholarship
Critical editions and standard translations behind the text above.
- The Letters of St. Antony: Monasticism and the Making of a SaintSamuel Rubenson, 1995The standard study with complete translation.
- Lettres de Saint Antoine (Spiritualité Orientale 19)(tr.) A. Louf, 1976French version from the oriental texts.