Smith Minnie L. Elementary Latin

Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1920. — 330 p.Elementary Latin , the 1920 edition of Smith’s Latin Lessons, retains the general plan of the original book. The changes are in matters of detail and serve to emphasize the four fundamental aims of the previous edition. These aims are to make Latin seem alive ; to give the first year study a value for general culture ; to minimize the difficulties of beginning Latin; to prepare thoroughly for the second year work. To carry further the first two aims of the book, the number of illustrations has been nearly doubled, and a description in English is attached to each. These descriptions taken together give a general idea of the life and customs of the Romans. To minimize the difficulties of beginning Latin, the early lessons have been divided and made shorter, so that the approach to the subject is much more gradual in the new edition than in the old. The first ten lessons of the former edition make twenty in the new book. Another feature not only lessens the difficulties of the first year but also carries out the fourth aim, which is to help prepare more thoroughly for the second year’s work. This new feature is the introduction of forty passages in connected Latin. These begin in the fifth lesson and continue throughout the book. They are supplemented by the Story of Ulysses
and by interesting passages from Caesar. In a word, the author has endeavored to make Elementary Latin simpler and more thorough than its predecessor, and at the same time more interesting and attractive.