The Latin Language and its Research History
- Thread starter Symposion
- Start date
I don't.
These are both marvelous books. Palmer provides an excellent overview in the development of Latin. It is a permanent reference work in my library. Palmer has written a similar work on Greek which I recommend as well.
Scribes and Scholars is a masterpiece. Not only a very sound treatment but a spellbinding story of some fascinating men who devoted their lives to the work of textual transmission. It's an adventure story for intellectuals.
I recommend N. G. Wilson's Scholars of Byzantium and From Byzantium to Italy: Greek Studies in the Italian Renaissance to complete the story.
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2018/2018-03-57.html
It's a very different from the other two. Based on Eleanor Dickey's review, I would not buy it.
Vulgar Latin – Bryn Mawr Classical Review
bmcr.brynmawr.edu
These books hardly have anything in common beyond being about Latin; I haven't read Palmer because no scan seems to be found online (only OCRd epub derivatives), but Vulgar Latin I have read the whole of, and it's the perfect introduction to the topic of non-literary Latin. The only problem with it is the perpetuation of the use of that horrendous term that inevitably exists in all of its 20 different definitions in the heads of those who try to write about it. Among replacements for Palmer my favourite is Lindsay's 1894 namesake The Latin Language; for something fresher try Clackson's and Horrocks' The Blackwell History of the Latin Language - I personally find it too halfway between being readable and thorough.
Akshully it exists right here, and I haven't read it because it was too intro-level when I first came across it. It's probably the most general overview of all, with the comparative-historical part being, it seems, an extreme condensation of the aforementioned Lindsay; this makes it a good match for Herman's Vulgar Latin. The Blackwell History would be its modernized and substantially beefed up replacement (but I still don't like it).
I think that I will read Scribes and Scholars because it is interested to see how Latin has been studied and transmitted. I am especially interested in how it was during the Middle ages. Secondly I think the Vulgar Latin book is interesting as it deels with "non-literary Latin" as that has been less dealt with by me. Thank you for your comments. I think I might already today go and borrow those two books.