Julia: A Latin Reading Book

by Maud Reed

Unknown 98 pages The Macmillan Company (1926) English B0008BURJU

98 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1926

Reviews

[Sineala · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the off chance that anyone else is ever going to read this, it is a reasonably engaging Latin reader from the 1920s. There are fifteen or so little stories touching on all the aspects of Roman history and mythology that you would expect -- some myths, some Trojan War, Romulus and Remus, a few important Horatii, and so on. The stories of course get grammatically more interesting as you go on. The framing story, which I thought was charming, was about a girl named Julia who was abducted by pirates (handy first declension noun, that), and then came back and went to school, where she learned all these stories.

The stories are a little sanitized, but in strange ways. There is an awful lot of death (for example, this is not a version where Iphigenia is swapped for a deer at the last second) but then the Romulus and Remus story completely fails to mention Remus' death. Possibly this is due to space constraints. I really have no idea.

Fun facts I learned: at the time of this writing (and apparently until the 1970s) you could go visit a live she-wolf in a cage on the Capitoline.

Oh, and there's a glossary. Of course. And some illustrations.

Recommended if you happen to like reading old Latin readers for fun.

[C. A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Commence avec des textes tout simples à propos d'une petite fille américaine du nom de Julia qui vit au début du 20e siècle. La difficulté augmente graduellement, et dans la deuxième moitié, l'auteur décide de quitter Julia pour proposer des paraphrases synthétiques des grands myths grecs et romains. C'est un excellent choix qui empêche de créer des confusions inutiles.

[Eugenio Fouz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was happily surprised with the fact of reading lines in Latin as when I was a student in high school. However this time I could read faster because of the glossaries at the final pages of the book.
Recommendable reading. Great idea and focus on Latin through elementary texts.

[Drianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty excited about this reader (and its "sequel," Camilla). May try using some of it this year. HOORAY for old Classics textbooks designed for *GIRLS* and not boys!

[Manuel Ortega Tierra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned Latin while reading myths.

[Joseph Maria O.T.F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livro virtualmente indispensável no aprendizado da língua latina.