Abstract: Edgar Lobel (1888–1982) was one of the most important classicists of the twentieth century. Through countless editiones principes, he set new standards for the publication of the papyri which so transformed our picture of ancient Greek literature. This lecture engages in particular with his work on Sappho, especially his path-breaking editions of 1925 and (with Denys Page) 1955. These remain foundational for all subsequent scholarship on the poet, in terms both of individual (often significant) details, and of larger editorial structures and organisation. The Sappho that readers know today – whether in Greek or in translation – is fundamentally Lobel’s Sappho. Has that been a good thing?