The Life and Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Vol. 1 (of 2) — John Shaqi
The Life and Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Vol. 1 (of 2)Busbecq, Ogier Ghislain de
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The Life and Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Busbecq, Ogier Ghislain de
Busbecq, Ogier Ghislain de, 1522-1592
‘For my own part, I approve not of those who neglect either their
authors for their grammar, or their grammar for their authors. The
grammar rules should be few and sound; all the rest should be picked
up from reading the best authors, or in conversation with good Latin
scholars.... I should be more inclined to agree with you, if an
instance could be given of a man who had learnt to write Latin without
the aid of a grammar. I have with me here Ulrich von Hutten,[46] an
exquisite Latin scholar, of gentle birth and good breeding. I should
recommend you to discuss the subject with him. I will come to you
the day after to-morrow, health permitting, for I am still poorly,
otherwise this letter would have been in my own handwriting, instead
of being dictated. Most honoured Sir, farewell.
‘Louvain, June 21, 1520.’
An account of George Halluin would be incomplete without a list of his
works, which are, (1) A translation into French of the [Greek: Enkômion
Môrias], written by Erasmus, and dedicated to Sir Thomas More. (2) A
treatise _De Restauratione Linguæ Latinæ_. (3) _On the Coronation of
Emperors._ (4) A work on Music. (5) A treatise against Luther. (6)
Notes on Virgil.[47]
This list shows the wide range of his studies, and also implies no
small amount of literary toil, for George Halluin was one who loved
to polish and mature his work. As Despauteres puts it, ‘nothing would
satisfy him that fell short of perfection.’
Such was the man who must have exercised the greatest influence
over Busbecq’s earlier years. The latter was born in 1522. George
Halluin did not die till 1536, when Busbecq had left his home for the
University of Louvain.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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