The Latin expression ''Pro captu lectoris habent sua fata libelli'' (literally, "According to the capabilities of the reader, books have their destiny"), is verse 1286 of ''De litteris, De syllabis, De Metris'' by

Terentianus Maurus Terentianus, surnamed Maurus (a native of Mauretania), was a Latin grammarian and writer on prosody who flourished probably at the end of the 2nd century AD. His references to Septimius Serenus and Alphius Avitus, who belonged to the school o ...

. ''Libelli'' is the plural of the Latin word ''

libellus A ''libellus'' (plural ''libelli'') in the Roman Empire was any brief document written on individual pages (as opposed to scrolls or tablets), particularly official documents issued by governmental authorities. The term ''libellus'' has particular ...

'', which is a

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

of ''liber'' ("book"), suggesting the qualification ("''little'' books ...") was actually meant but in fact ''libellus'' was used to mean tracts,

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

s etc. William Camden used the phrase in the preface to ''Britannia'' (1607), the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland. The phrase is translated as "Bookes receive their Doome according to the reader's capacity." The early modern scholar Robert Burton deploys the expression in his '' The Anatomy of Melancholy'': :Our writings are as so many dishes, our readers guests, our books like beauty, that which one admires another rejects; so are we approved as men's fancies are inclined. ''Pro captu lectoris habent sua fata libelli''. The Latin is often only partially quoted as ''Habent sua fata libelli'' and then translated or understood as "Books have their own destinies." By extension the phrase is understood by Umberto Eco (in '' The Name of the Rose'') as "Books share their fates with their readers". In a talk about

book collecting Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is ''bibliophilia'', and someo ...

, titled "Unpacking My Library" from ''Illuminations'', Walter Benjamin cites the expression in its short form, noting that the words are often intended as a general statement about books; Benjamin's book collector, by way of contrast, applies them to himself and to the specific copies he collects.

Example uses

* It is quoted by James Joyce in a letter, dated April 2, 1932, to American publisher Bennett Cerf, a letter requested by Cerf concerning the details of the publication of Joyce's novel ''

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

''. * A modified version of the phrase translated as 'booklets and bailiffs have their own fate' appears as part of the footer on the American

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

file hosting website DEFCAD. * Voltaire uses it in his play “Mérope”

References

Latin words and phrases {{latin-vocab-stub