Edward L. Ballard

The Latest Edition of an Excellent Grammar, July 28, 2009

Earlier reviewers are probably right in suggesting that this may not be the best book for complete beginners. For instance, when this book first appeared nearly a century ago (in 1911), its readers, even with an elementary school education, would probably have had a grasp of basic grammatical concepts that today even most college graduates lack (exceptions being made, of course, for linguists and other students of language). But for someone who has a firm grasp of grammatical concepts and enjoys the systematic approach of a traditional grammar, this book will not disappoint.

Since my interest is primarily in the older written language, it is this book's traditional approach to… Read more

The Open Court Classics edition translates all quotations Schopenhauer cites, August 27, 2008

I have nothing substantial to add to earlier reviews except to point out that the translator, E. F. J. Payne, has systematically translated all of Schopenhauer's many comments, quotations, and the like, into English. If Schopenhauer uses, for example, an important Latin word or phrase, this may be left in the text but is footnoted and translated at the end of the chapter. Quotations from Greek, Latin, etc. are given in English in the text, footnoted, and the original provided at the end of the chapter.

This makes Payne's translation useful for both students and scholars. While a student in the 19th century had to be fluent in Latin, Greek, etc. (mainly because most of this… Read more