John Amos Comenius (
As such, these books are ofenormous utility to the student of Latin, as they cover areasof knowledge with which we are somewhat familiar, and they provide awealth ofvocabulary, and knowledge about real things in the world – while at thesame time giving us an insight into the mindset of the Renaissance, ina manner that no amount of academic study can give us – for bystudying the course outlined by these textbooks, we become one ofComenius’ students, and aretransported back in time. At the same time, we build up and strengthenourLatin.
Comenius' textbooks were veryfamous, and some editions remained in active classroom use until theearly 1800's.Most editions are bilingual (Latin plus some other European language,including Hebrew and Classical Greek), some are trilingual or more,with the text running in parallel columns - such a text is averitable Rosetta Stone for learning Latin. One of the online texts youcan access has parallel translations in German, Polish, French, andCzech.
LEVEL
Orbis Sensualim Pictus
The first text Latinum willpresent will be Comenius’ OrbisSensualim Pictus.
We will use the first American edition, in English and Latin, as thisis available on GoogleBooks. Thebook can be purchased as a reprint.
OrbisSensualim Pictus - Anglice - Latine. (1810) on Latinum in audio
Variant Text:
Here is anotherversion.
This book is Comenius'foundation textbook, and it covers in a very basic format, all themain areas of knowledge as they were understood in the seventeenthcentury –biology, physics, geometry, trades, philosophy, music, recreation, law,politics,etc. This book was written for six to seven year olds, but it servesquite wellfor adults as well, although each topic is of course only treated inthe barestof outlines.
Each lesson is an ‘objectlesson’, and all the words givenare illustrated in drawings that accompany the lesson, aiding in memoryandunderstanding. The lessons are interesting historically, as theydescribe theprocesses of long extinct trades, adding to your store of Latin wordsrelated to everyday life.
In order to progress toComenius’ higher level textbooks, itis necessary to master the vocabulary in the Orbis Pictus – and goingthroughthe book seven or eight times will be necessary – possibly more. TheOrbis willgive you a vocabulary of a few thousand words.
LEVEL TWO
The Vestibulum
The next text in Comenius’series is the Vestibulumto the Janua Linguarum. This is a simple text,of a slightly higher level than the Orbis Sensualim Pictus. Comeniusalso wrote an essential introduction to Latin Grammar, to accompany it.He wrote two versions of the vestibulum, both of which are usefultexts. Two versions of this text are in the OperaDidactica Omnia.
Versions:
Vestibulumin usum illustris paedagogei Albensis
Vestibulum( Latine - Hungarice )
VestibulumMajus.(Latine-Germanice)
Much of the Vestibulum is also available on the Tar Heel Reader.
LEVEL THREE
I will use 1796 text of Johann Georg Lederer: DerKleine Lateiner, for level 3. This text follows the outline of theOrbis Pictus very closely, whileintroducing some material some materialfrom the Janua, and thus serves admirably as the ‘next step up’. Thistext is in German and Latin, but is similar enough to the Orbis for abeginner to assimilate after studying the Orbis.
Comenius' Latin-Latin dictionary.
This dictionary was especially written for thevocabulary contained in the Janua and the Atrium. There are twoeditions, one for the Janua, one, more advanced, for the Atrium. TheLexicon Januale is in the OperaDidactica Omnia.
Several Editions of the Lexicon Atriale will be appearing onGoogle. Thefirst oneto appear online, is, unfortunately, a poor scan, with the edges ofmany pages sliced off. It, is, however, still very useful.Laura Gibbs has started a projectto transcribe the dictionary, to create an online, fully searchabletext. several people are already contributing. This is a very importantproject, as no 'pocket' Latin-Latin dictionary is available, either inprint, or online, apart from this scan. As part of your Latin studies,I urge you to contribute, and help transcribe a few pages, lines, evenone entry, of this dictionary. Every little will help to get this upand online as soon as possible.
LEVEL FOUR
The Janua
The JanuaLinguarum ReserataAurea uses the same chapteroutlines as the Orbis Sensualim Pictus, but the material is fleshed outin muchmore detail. The text, reprinted so often, comes in several verrsions,as Comenius composed variant texts, and theeditions from different places and times have important differences,but they all follow the same chapter structure.
Versions:
Latin,French, Dutch
Latin andClassical Greek ed. Theodoro Simonio
Latin, GermanItalian and French.
Latin, German,French, Italian ed. Duez.
Copies of the JanuaLinguarum can also beviewed as scans at the ComeniusLibrary in Japan. (Before the first google editions appeared inlate 2008, this was the only way to view these texts).
This text with itsparallel translations is a veritable Rosetta Stone for unlocking theLatin language. I will be using the critical edition of the Janua. Theearlier editions of the Janua are simpler than later editions, so I maypresent this text in two versions, a lower level and higher levelversion.
Comenius also wrote an intermediate Latin Grammar,composed in accessible Latin, for students of the Janua Reserata. Thismaterial is now available online in the Two versions of this text arein the OperaDidactica Omnia.
LEVEL FIVE
Schola Ludus
This section will be theSchola Ludus, where the material ofthe Janua Linguarum Reserata is presented in short dialogues and‘plays’ –although these are not dramatic plays, but rather expositions, usingconversation.I will use the critical edition of the Schola Ludus. Thecolloquies in the Schola Ludus develop the educational themes in theJanua in moredepth. This text is available online as individual photographs of thepages, andcan be found listed here.
Schoal Ludus also exists in the OperaDidactica Omnia.
LEVEL
' Vestibuli Lat. Lingvae Auctarium'. This text is also avaiable inthe
Atrium
The Atrium. The atrium contains Comenius' Higherlevel Grammar, and advanced philosophical discussions of the materialinitially introduced in the Vestubulum and the Janua. See the OperaDidactica Omnia.
LEVEL EIGHT
Latin authors in the original.
Comenius thought a student should not open anyworks of original Latin literature, until fluency had been developed.He estimated this would take three years, if conducted FULL TIME in aschool only following his curriculum. Part time, you are lookingat six - ten years to attain the level of fluency that Comenius wouldhave expected from his students.