Wilby's "Guide to Latin Conversation" pdf
Johannes Patruus
There have recently been some expressions of interest in Stephen Wilby's
hard-to-get-hold-of book, and I have now been generously supplied by a
colleague with a PDF of it which I have uploaded to SkyDrive. To get to
the download location, left-click the following link - http://bit.ly/cnf4Ud
In his recent article on "Bringing back Latin" (http://bit.ly/aeityF), Dr.
Mark J. Clark comments as follows:
[Quote:]
In 1892 there appeared Professor Stephen Wilby�s English translation of
the Guide to Latin Conversation, a Jesuit handbook that had gone through
seven editions in French. This Guide, a compendium of the Church�s
tradition of teaching living Latin, contains eighty dialogues, thirty by
the Belgian Jesuit Van Torre and fifty from the famous Jesuit classicist
Pontanus as well as �phrases�of Erasmus, of Vives, of Cordier, of
Alde-Manuce, of Fathers Pontanus, Van Torre and Champsneups.� . . . The
solution then is simple: to recover our former fluency, we need only
restore what was traditionally our end, namely, to master Latin
comprehensively so as to be able to use it: to think in it, to speak it,
to write it, and to read it with native or near-native facility. Wilby had
the right idea in making use of the Church�s existing resources for
teaching and learning living Latin. A small sample from his volume will
suffice to show the kind of treasure he unearthed. Near the end of the
first dialogue reproduced is a little prayer that Father Pontanus, the
original author of the dialogue, referred to as �illa [pretiuncula]
Ecclesiae communissima et commodissima� (�that most common and most
suitable little prayer of the Church�): �Actiones nostras, quaesumus,
Domine, aspirando praeveni, et adjuvando prosequere, ut cuncta nostra
oratio et operatio a te semper incipiat, et per te coepta finiatur.� This
apparently common yet beautiful seventeenth-century prayer is
quintessentially Latin in its structure, its thought patterns, and its
striking economy of expression. As Wilby knew, these are all radically at
variance with our own habits of thought and expression, and his
inspiration to return ad fontes was exactly right. To think in Latin does
in fact necessitate acquiring the habit of thinking in Latin.
[:Unquote]
In addition to what is mentioned above, Wilby's 500+ page opus contains
extensive classified vocabularies, "Sententiae Selectae" from Publius
Syrus, Terence, Juvenal, Ovid, Virgil, Horace and Seneca, plus some
grammatical and reference materials.
Also available is a PDF of Wilby's "How to speak Latin" which is pitched
at a somewhat more elementary level. Left-click http://bit.ly/do6vXr
Patruus
Kaeso Fabius Avitus
>
> There have recently been some expressions of interest in Stephen Wilby's
> hard-to-get-hold-of book, and I have now been generously supplied by a
> colleague with a PDF of it which I have uploaded to SkyDrive. To get to
> the download location, left-click the following link -
> http://bit.ly/cnf4Ud
>
> In his recent article on "Bringing back Latin" (http://bit.ly/aeityF), Dr.
> Mark J. Clark comments as follows:
>
> [Quote:]
> In 1892 there appeared Professor Stephen Wilby’s English translation of
> the Guide to Latin Conversation, a Jesuit handbook that had gone through
> seven editions in French. This Guide, a compendium of the Church’s
> tradition of teaching living Latin, contains eighty dialogues, thirty by
> the Belgian Jesuit Van Torre and fifty from the famous Jesuit classicist
> Pontanus as well as “phrases…of Erasmus, of Vives, of Cordier, of
> Alde-Manuce, of Fathers Pontanus, Van Torre and Champsneups.” . . . The
> solution then is simple: to recover our former fluency, we need only
> restore what was traditionally our end, namely, to master Latin
> comprehensively so as to be able to use it: to think in it, to speak it,
> to write it, and to read it with native or near-native facility. Wilby had
> the right idea in making use of the Church’s existing resources for
> teaching and learning living Latin. A small sample from his volume will
> suffice to show the kind of treasure he unearthed. Near the end of the
> first dialogue reproduced is a little prayer that Father Pontanus, the
> original author of the dialogue, referred to as “illa [pretiuncula]
> Ecclesiae communissima et commodissima” (“that most common and most
> suitable little prayer of the Church”): “Actiones nostras, quaesumus,
> Domine, aspirando praeveni, et adjuvando prosequere, ut cuncta nostra
> oratio et operatio a te semper incipiat, et per te coepta finiatur.” This
> apparently common yet beautiful seventeenth-century prayer is
> quintessentially Latin in its structure, its thought patterns, and its
> striking economy of expression. As Wilby knew, these are all radically at
> variance with our own habits of thought and expression, and his
> inspiration to return ad fontes was exactly right. To think in Latin does
> in fact necessitate acquiring the habit of thinking in Latin.
> [:Unquote]
>
> In addition to what is mentioned above, Wilby's 500+ page opus contains
> extensive classified vocabularies, "Sententiae Selectae" from Publius
> Syrus, Terence, Juvenal, Ovid, Virgil, Horace and Seneca, plus some
> grammatical and reference materials.
>
> Also available is a PDF of Wilby's "How to speak Latin" which is pitched
> at a somewhat more elementary level. Left-click http://bit.ly/do6vXr
>
> Patruus
Thanks for that, but I don't think your first link is working.
- Kaeso
Johannes Patruus
I've just tested it, and it works for me. Here it is in full (though it
will probably come out broken) -
Patruus
Kaeso Fabius Avitus
Sorry for the confusion. It was just a problem with my browser! I've got
it now, thanks.
- Kaeso
David Rodericius
> There have recently been some expressions of interest in Stephen Wilby's
> hard-to-get-hold-of book, and I have now been generously supplied by a
> colleague with a PDF of it which I have uploaded to SkyDrive. To get to
>
> In his recent article on "Bringing back Latin" (http://bit.ly/aeityF), Dr.
> Mark J. Clark comments as follows:
>
> [Quote:]
> the Guide to Latin Conversation, a Jesuit handbook that had gone through
> tradition of teaching living Latin, contains eighty dialogues, thirty by
> the Belgian Jesuit Van Torre and fifty from the famous Jesuit classicist
> Alde-Manuce, of Fathers Pontanus, Van Torre and Champsneups.” . . . The
> solution then is simple: to recover our former fluency, we need only
> restore what was traditionally our end, namely, to master Latin
> comprehensively so as to be able to use it: to think in it, to speak it,
> to write it, and to read it with native or near-native facility. Wilby had
> teaching and learning living Latin. A small sample from his volume will
> suffice to show the kind of treasure he unearthed. Near the end of the
> first dialogue reproduced is a little prayer that Father Pontanus, the
> Ecclesiae communissima et commodissima” (“that most common and most
> suitable little prayer of the Church”): “Actiones nostras, quaesumus,
> Domine, aspirando praeveni, et adjuvando prosequere, ut cuncta nostra
> apparently common yet beautiful seventeenth-century prayer is
> quintessentially Latin in its structure, its thought patterns, and its
> striking economy of expression. As Wilby knew, these are all radically at
> variance with our own habits of thought and expression, and his
> inspiration to return ad fontes was exactly right. To think in Latin does
> in fact necessitate acquiring the habit of thinking in Latin.
> [:Unquote]
>
> In addition to what is mentioned above, Wilby's 500+ page opus contains
> extensive classified vocabularies, "Sententiae Selectae" from Publius
> Syrus, Terence, Juvenal, Ovid, Virgil, Horace and Seneca, plus some
> grammatical and reference materials.
>
> Also available is a PDF of Wilby's "How to speak Latin" which is pitched
> at a somewhat more elementary level. Left-clickhttp://bit.ly/do6vXr
>
> Patruus
Sescentas tibi gratias ago, Patrue. Deus te amet.
Rod.