It is fascinating that this double page was chosen at random to illustrate what the book looked like and yet it tells such a story. Quapropter qui materium (Thus the matter) inconveniently starts half was down the left hand page just above the NOTE (figure: upper right) and then continues top left of the right hand page. (figure: bottom right)
Heraclitus at around 500 BC had theorised that fire was the fundamental element and everything else developed from that. On the above page Lucretius mocks those who believe that Fire is the substance of things and goes on to mock those who think it was instead air or moisture or earth He says they have clearly wandered far astray from true reason. After 50 more lines he states ‘This line of reasoning strikes me as lunatic and queer!’ After another 150 lines of argument he finally states that all these things, air, water, fire are created by different combinations of atoms that create the universe’s rich variety.
The notes in the margin in italics top right are by Creech and are Latin prose. Latin poetry is notoriously clumsy says a Latin expert friend of mine so the prose paraphrases are very handy. They also provide a few additional details.
The large footnotes offer more detailed explanations and discuss where variants in the manuscript occur. The original Greek manuscripts are also quoted for clarification.