Author: WAQUET, Fr.,
Title: Latin or the Empire of a Sign. From the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Translated by J. Howe.
Description: Verso, London / New York, 2001. 346p. Original hard bound with dust wrappers. Spine gilt titled. Dust wrappers with a few light remains of a sticker on the front. First published as Le latin et l'empire d'un signe. ?Part I looks at the former empire of Latin in school, church, and scholarship. The range of reference and example is impressive, and flashes of humour enliven the presentation. One might suggest that a bit more analysis would have been welcome. (?) Part II focuses on competence, and reaches the conclusion which Roger Ascham had already arrived at in the sixteenth century, that schooling in Latin was for most an appalling waste of time(?). Part II describes efforts to legitimate the knowledge of Latin and keep Humanism from turning into the Humanities. (?) I enjoyed this book immensely, and learned something from virtually every page, chiefly because of the European perspective on issues that Christopher Stray has ably charted from a British angle.' (ROLAND MAYER in The Classical Review (New Series), 2002, pp.148-150).

Keywords: 9781859846155