British Quarterly Review, American Edition, Vol. LIV: July and October, 1871Various
History
British Quarterly Review, American Edition, Vol. LIV: July and October, 1871
Various
English periodicals
The first-mentioned of these works is, we think, the best school-book
that has ever come under our notice. The excellence of the original is
sufficiently guaranteed, by its appearing in Haupt and Sauppe's
series, and its practical usefulness fully established by the sale of
seven editions in the course of a few years. But we do not hesitate to
affirm that the English edition is rendered far superior to the
original by the extensive additions of Professor Wilkins, which bear
ample testimony, not simply to his varied critical and literary
acquirements, but also to the correctness of his judgment respecting
the difficulties and wants of the generality of students. There is
scarcely a note in the original to which important additions have not
been made by the editor. Among the most valuable helps to the English
student are the constant reference to 'Mommsen's History,' 'Ramsay's
Antiquities,' and 'Madvig's Grammar.' The etymological notes by the
translator often contain, within a narrow compass, the substance of
the views of Curtius, Schleicher, or Corsen on the subject. More
advanced students are directed for further information to the works of
Bekker, Drumann, Nägelsbach, Arnold, Niebuhr, Merivale, and Forsyth.
In fact, no source of illustration has escaped the editor, not even
essays in the _Rheinisches Museum_ and the _Fortnightly Review_. Not
the least valuable contribution is the excellent analysis of the four
orations, enabling the student to follow the argument at every step.
We cannot speak too highly of this little volume. It is our candid
opinion that here the junior student will lack nothing, and that the
mature scholar may learn much. We have the greatest satisfaction in
recommending it to all in search of an efficient help in studying the
Catiline Orations.
The second book is quite an elementary work, somewhat on the plan of
our Teutonic neighbours. The author's aim is twofold; to provide the
youthful learner with a better dictionary for the reading of Cæsar, by
delivering him from the bewilderment of a large one and the meagreness
of a small one, and to secure from the very commencement idiomatic
modes of translation. The latter is kept in view all through the
work, and is the sole object of the two appendices, the first of which
contains 116 idiomatic phrases, with their English equivalents; and
the second, hints on translation into English. Mr. Creak very rightly
maintains that a lesson in Latin translation should also be one in
English composition. This work, though small and elementary, is not
unimportant. It aims at correcting one great defect of most of the
current school-books, and exhibits the ability of a scholar, combined
with the experience of a teacher. We heartily wish the author success
in his effort to shorten the tedious and cumbrous modes of instruction
prevalent in our best institutions.
_Homer--Odyssey._ Books I--XII. By W. W. MERRY, M.A. Oxford: Clarendon
Press.
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