Neither mystery nor mathematics …

… "The Application of Thought to Textual Criticism" by A.E. Housman. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Textual criticism is a science, and, since it comprises recension and emendation, it is also an art. It is the science of discovering error in texts and the art of removing it. That is its definition, that is what the name denotes. But I must also say something about what it does and does not connote, what attributes it does and does not imply; because here also there are false impressions abroad.