Medieval Latin: Second Edition (Paperback)

~ K. P. Harrington (Editor), Joseph Pucci (Editor) "Unlike a more traditional grammar of Classical Latin-such as AG, which will represent for us the standard of CL-no grammar of ML or VL can..." (more)
Key Phrases: pluperfect active subjunctive, perfect active indicative, future active imperative, Vetus Latina, New York, Gregory of Tours (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

K. P. Harrington's Mediaeval Latin, the standard medieval Latin anthology used in the United States since its initial publication in 1925, has now been completely revised and updated for today's students and teachers by Joseph Pucci. This new edition of the classic anthology retains its breadth of coverage, but increases its depth by adding fourteen new selections, doubling the coverage of women writers, and expanding a quarter of the original selections. The new edition also includes a substantive grammatical introduction by Alison Goddard Elliott.

To help place the selections within their wider historical, social, and political contexts, Pucci has written extensive introductory essays for each of the new edition's five parts. Headnotes to individual selections have been recast as interpretive essays, and the original bibliographic paragraphs have been expanded. Reprinted from the best modern editions, the selections have been extensively glossed with grammatical notes geared toward students of classical Latin who may be reading medieval Latin for the first time.

Includes thirty-two full-page plates (with accompanying captions) depicting medieval manuscript and book production.

Language Notes

Text: English, Latin --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details Paperback: 702 pages Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (November 10, 1997) Language: English ISBN-10: 0226317137 ISBN-13: 978-0226317137 Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #604,020 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

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Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
Unlike a more traditional grammar of Classical Latin-such as AG, which will represent for us the standard of CL-no grammar of ML or VL can make any claim to completeness; the geographical and chronological boundaries are too great to be encompassed in a single chapter. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
pluperfect active subjunctive, perfect active indicative, future active imperative, parasitic consonant, governs indirect statement, dixit michi, present passive infinitive, passive periphrastic construction, perfect active infinitive, perfect passive participle, ablative object, future active participle, minor formatting changes, present active subjunctive, better spelling, beast poetry, present active participle, loose folio, dative object, complementary infinitive, present active imperative, ablative absolute construction, adverbial force, indeclinable noun, single folio

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Vetus Latina, New York, Gregory of Tours, Carmina Burana, Cambridge Songs, Holy Land, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Matthew Paris, Paul the Deacon, Saint Martin, Bernard of Clairvaux, First Crusade, Raymond of Aguilers, Alan of Lille, Roger Bacon, William of Malmesbury, Charles the Bald, Gospel of Nicodemus, Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Rolls Series, Saint Benedict, Saint Francis, Walter Map, Christian Latin, Fulcher of Chartres

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Citations (learn more)

This book cites 47 books:

• A Book of Hours (Cambridge Reading) by Meredith Hooper on 9 pages
• World History by Era - Vol. 3 The Middle Ages (hardcover edition) (Vol 3) by Jeff Hay on 8 pages
• The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius on 4 pages
• History of the Lombards (The Middle Ages Series) by Paul the Deacon on page 54, page 197, and page 198
• Vita Karoli Magni by Einhard on page 238, page 239, and page 300

See all 47 books this book cites

 

9 books cite this book:

• Women Writing Latin, Volume One: Women Writing Latin in Roman Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and the Early Christian Era by L. Churchill on 4 pages
• Women Writing Latin, Volume two: Medieval Modern Women Writing Latin by L. Churchill in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
• Women Writing Latin, Volume three: Early Modern Women Writing Latin by L. Churchill in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
• Getting Medieval: Sexualities and Communities, Pre- and Postmodern (Series Q) by Carolyn Dinshaw in Back Matter
• Language, Education, and Ideology: Mapping the Linguistic Landscape of U.S. Schools by Timothy Reagan in Back Matter

See all 9 books citing this book

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A Primer of Biblical Greek by N. Clayton Croy Discusses: perfect active indicative perfect active infinitive present active subjunctive Essentials of New Testament Greek by Ray Summers Discusses: perfect active indicative future active participle present active subjunctive Learn to Read New Testament Greek by David Alan Black Discusses: perfect active indicative perfect active infinitive perfect passive participle From Alpha to Omega, An Introduction to Classical Greek, Rev Third Edition by Anne Groton Discusses: perfect active indicative perfect active infinitive perfect passive participle Loading...

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7 Reviews 5 star:    (0) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:  (2) 1 star:  (3)           Average Customer Review 2.1 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 75 of 75 people found the following review helpful: 1.0 out of 5 stars A disaster, January 2, 2001 By  Bruce Alan McMenomy (Bellevue, WA United States) - See all my reviews This review is from: Medieval Latin: Second Edition (Hardcover) Harrington's text has been the backbone of a majority of undergraduate (and beginning graduate) Medieval Latin courses in the United States for several generations now, and it has, despite some serious deficiencies, worn relatively well. The passages were thoughtfully chosen, minimally edited and annotated, and presented with spare introductions providing just enough context to get on with the business of reading. In a field as wide as Medieval Latin, there are bound to be differences of opinion on what should be included, and if one is interested primarily in patristic or diplomatic Latin, it's probably a good idea to look elsewhere. But what was there was mostly adequate. The occasional textual problems were annoying, but fairly infrequent. Pucci's new edition gives this flawed classic a fatal makeover. The new edition is endowed with a superior introduction and some good grammatical information; the selection of passages is changed from the first edition on more or less rational principles; introductions are enhanced; problematic grammatical constructions are given considerably more annotation. Being pleased with what I saw, and on a short time-budget, I ordered it for a class. Since I had already encountered many of the passages I intended to teach in the first edition, I didn't read them through before ordering the book for my students. But when I began to teach the class, it became clear that the text itself (which is still, after all, the core of the enterprise) had become a hopeless mess -- such a mess, in fact, that only a textual scholar who doesn't need an introductory book will have enough experience and self-confidence to work past its bizarre readings. In the space of the six or eight passages we went over before the class simply gave up, we encountered many desperate phrases -- and in every instance the new edition had substituted gibberish for Harrington's comprehensible reading. These errors range from the whimsical placement of commas to absurd typographical errors (e.g., Duo instead of Deo). These occur at an alarming and debilitating rate -- not one every few pages, but sometimes several per paragraph. A complete errata-list, I suspect, would constitute a small volume of its own. One wonders how a competent Medieval Latinist could have produced such a travesty. From the arbitrary and capricious look of the errors, I am led (with some incredulity) to suspect that a copy of Harrington's text was scanned into a computer, corrected without human supervision by a spell-check routine and a Latin wordlist, and then annotated and rushed out the door without ever being proofread by anyone who knew any Latin. The University of Chicago compromises its credibility with such appalling work, and insults those who buy it in good faith, expecting to learn to read Medieval Latin. It should on no account be inflicted on undergraduates, who typically find the Latin itself challenging enough without having to battle through layers of modern textual corruption. Until they either prepare a corrected second edition (or a third), or simply discard it to return to the first, there are really only two paths available: Beeson's Medieval Latin Primer (not widely known, but still filled with solid passages), and Sidwell's Reading Medieval Latin (passages too short for my taste, but cleanly presented). Both have their drawbacks, and neither quite fills the gap left by the disappearance of Harrington's first edition, but there should be no mistake: Harrington's text is out of print. 13 of 15 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars Good selections, but erratic notes, November 9, 1999 By A Customer This revision of Harrington's _Medieval Latin_ includes an excellent choice of texts, elegant illustrations, good introductions to individual selections and a useful grammatical introduction. Unfortunately, Pucci's notes to the Latin passages are often vague or misleading and are riddled with elementary errors. I found teaching from this book an exercise in frustration. Keith Sidwell's _Reading Medieval Latin_ remains the best choice both for college courses and for self-study. 7 of 10 people found the following review helpful: 1.0 out of 5 stars This book neglects the best late Latin!, September 6, 2000 By  Lawrence Brown III (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews Pucci's revision of Harrington's first edition is nothing short of maddening! I was looking forward to an expansion of the late Prof. Harrington's masterpiece only to find the excerpts of Milton, Scaliger, Dante, Pertrarch, and Castiglione removed! If one is interested in German Latin lyricists as well, do not buy this book! It was a grave disappointment!		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 4.0 out of 5 stars Useful primer This is a useful anthology of Medieval Latin texts at various levels of difficulty, with introductory essays that provide you with a fair amount of the literary-historical context... Read more Published 3 months ago by Shami Ghosh 4.0 out of 5 stars Excited to see this compendium I was looking for a primer on Medieval Latin at my University library and ran across this one. I am only a first semester Latin student (I am working on an M.A. Read more Published on October 20, 1999 2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the first edition Unfortunately, some of the real treasures of medieval Latin literature, most notably the Dies Irae, which were in the First Edition were removed in this edition, and the additions... Read more Published on September 26, 1999 1.0 out of 5 stars not worth purchase Many inadequacies in the notes to the Latin passages. Many errors of interpretation of the Latin passages, (imho) and not enough useful notes for the novice reader. Published on January 19, 1999 Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Paperback: 702 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (November 10, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226317137
• ISBN-13: 978-0226317137
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #604,020 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A disaster, January 2, 2001

By	Bruce Alan McMenomy (Bellevue, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Medieval Latin: Second Edition (Hardcover)

Harrington's text has been the backbone of a majority of undergraduate (and beginning graduate) Medieval Latin courses in the United States for several generations now, and it has, despite some serious deficiencies, worn relatively well. The passages were thoughtfully chosen, minimally edited and annotated, and presented with spare introductions providing just enough context to get on with the business of reading. In a field as wide as Medieval Latin, there are bound to be differences of opinion on what should be included, and if one is interested primarily in patristic or diplomatic Latin, it's probably a good idea to look elsewhere. But what was there was mostly adequate. The occasional textual problems were annoying, but fairly infrequent.

Pucci's new edition gives this flawed classic a fatal makeover. The new edition is endowed with a superior introduction and some good grammatical information; the selection of passages is changed from the first edition on more or less rational principles; introductions are enhanced; problematic grammatical constructions are given considerably more annotation. Being pleased with what I saw, and on a short time-budget, I ordered it for a class. Since I had already encountered many of the passages I intended to teach in the first edition, I didn't read them through before ordering the book for my students.

But when I began to teach the class, it became clear that the text itself (which is still, after all, the core of the enterprise) had become a hopeless mess -- such a mess, in fact, that only a textual scholar who doesn't need an introductory book will have enough experience and self-confidence to work past its bizarre readings. In the space of the six or eight passages we went over before the class simply gave up, we encountered many desperate phrases -- and in every instance the new edition had substituted gibberish for Harrington's comprehensible reading. These errors range from the whimsical placement of commas to absurd typographical errors (e.g., Duo instead of Deo). These occur at an alarming and debilitating rate -- not one every few pages, but sometimes several per paragraph. A complete errata-list, I suspect, would constitute a small volume of its own.

One wonders how a competent Medieval Latinist could have produced such a travesty. From the arbitrary and capricious look of the errors, I am led (with some incredulity) to suspect that a copy of Harrington's text was scanned into a computer, corrected without human supervision by a spell-check routine and a Latin wordlist, and then annotated and rushed out the door without ever being proofread by anyone who knew any Latin.

The University of Chicago compromises its credibility with such appalling work, and insults those who buy it in good faith, expecting to learn to read Medieval Latin. It should on no account be inflicted on undergraduates, who typically find the Latin itself challenging enough without having to battle through layers of modern textual corruption. Until they either prepare a corrected second edition (or a third), or simply discard it to return to the first, there are really only two paths available: Beeson's Medieval Latin Primer (not widely known, but still filled with solid passages), and Sidwell's Reading Medieval Latin (passages too short for my taste, but cleanly presented). Both have their drawbacks, and neither quite fills the gap left by the disappearance of Harrington's first edition, but there should be no mistake: Harrington's text is out of print.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good selections, but erratic notes, November 9, 1999

By A Customer

This revision of Harrington's _Medieval Latin_ includes an excellent choice of texts, elegant illustrations, good introductions to individual selections and a useful grammatical introduction. Unfortunately, Pucci's notes to the Latin passages are often vague or misleading and are riddled with elementary errors. I found teaching from this book an exercise in frustration. Keith Sidwell's _Reading Medieval Latin_ remains the best choice both for college courses and for self-study.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book neglects the best late Latin!, September 6, 2000

By	Lawrence Brown III (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

Pucci's revision of Harrington's first edition is nothing short of maddening! I was looking forward to an expansion of the late Prof. Harrington's masterpiece only to find the excerpts of Milton, Scaliger, Dante, Pertrarch, and Castiglione removed! If one is interested in German Latin lyricists as well, do not buy this book! It was a grave disappointment!