The Columbian Orator: Containing a variety of original and selected pieces together with rules, which are calculated to improve youth and others, in the ornamental and useful art of eloquence

by Caleb Bingham (Editor), David W. Blight (Editor)

First published in 1797, The Columbian Orator helped shape the American mind for the next half century, going through some 23 editions and totaling 200,000 copies in sales. The book was read by virtually every American schoolboy in the first half of the 19th century. As a slave youth, Frederick Douglass owned just one book, and read it frequently, referring to it as a "gem" and his "rich treasure."

The Columbian Orator presents 84 selections, most of which are notable examples of oratory on such subjects as nationalism, religious faith, individual liberty, freedom, and slavery, including pieces by Washington, Franklin, Milton, Socrates, and Cicero, as well as heroic poetry and dramatic dialogues. Augmenting these is an essay on effective public speaking which influenced Abraham Lincoln as a young politician. As America experiences a resurgence of interest in the art of debating and oratory, The Columbian Orator--whether as historical artifact or contemporary guidebook--is one of those rare books to be valued for what it meant in its own time, and for how its ideas have endured. Above all, this book is a remarkable compilation of Enlightenment era thought and language that has stood the test of time.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, Education, Philosophy, Classics

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1797

About the author

Caleb Bingham (1757-1817) was a textbook author. Among his most influential works were books on oratory, or public speaking. He spent much of his career in Boston, Massachusetts as a publisher and bookseller. Bingham was educated at Dartmouth College and valedictorian of his class of 1782. He also taught at the College.

Reviews

[Kelley]

This was one of the first book purchased by Fredrick Douglass and it was instrumental in the development of his thinking and speaking ability. It was a pleasure to read.

[Rich Offman]

If you believe the lore, Frederick Douglass self-taught with little more than the Bible and this book originally published in 1797. And the lore: Douglass observed a group of kids practicing oratory with this book. Impressed by their performance, he stole a loaf of bread and traded for it. More than a one of my 126 English intervention students who hate reading threatened to steal my copy of this book - so they could read it.

[kobushi]

DNF Warning

Probably the biggest question a modern reader may have outside why “The Colombian Orator” is worth or not worth one’s time is this one: “This book definitely is in the public domain. Why should I get this edition?” My answer: to be honest, it seems like the only ‘bonuses’ one gets if they purchase the edition published by NYU Press is a sweet cover, a great introduction, and proper formatting—two things that even a public domain version may cover.” In more detail: if there’s one thing I feel this collection of over 80 (!) snippets of damn fine reading for the purpose of becoming a better speaker and well-rounded individual is missing it’s brief introductions before each section. Obviously given the sheer number of entries, beefy multi-page affairs would be asking too much, but just a little bit of a modern editorial flourish providing the modern reader some background as to what each piece may cover would be helpful. One can assume a reader in the early 19th century would have more familiarity with “LORD MANSFIELD’S SPEECH, IN SUPPORT OF A BILL FOR PREVENTING DELAYS OF JUSTICE, BY REASON OF PRIVILEGE OF PARLIAMENT, 1770”, but not so one from the 21st who at times may be a bit lost, like Lewis and Clark without trusty guides.

But be it a public domain version or the NYU version, is this a “good” book? This is tough and dare I say the snippet format makes it difficult at times to really absorb oneself in the material. But almost taking something of a ‘macro moment’ where you step back and perhaps observe outside the box before diving back in, one may need to realize that this is not a book simply about inspirational passages—many of those exist and I at least view them as not much better than short social media ‘feel goodsm’ clips. This is a book first and foremost to be employed in order to make one a better speaker. It’s in the name after all! Read the text, yes, but visualize the text too. Perhaps even practice reading it out loud. Learn to pace, learn how to breathe, learn when to raise one’s voice, when to lower it. The gaze, the posture, the commanding presence, we can assume those in this book all possessed it in goodly amounts and by keeping that in mind, all entries may come alive and show how a book over 200 years ago of work even older—significantly older in some cases such as Cato—can never be more alive.

There’s a problem and halfway through for me, it became large enough I decided to DNF it. Two problems, noted above somewhat I will expand some here before closing this out. Firstly—and again—”The Colombian Orator” is not bad! There is immense cultural value here. I can definitely see why it was popular and can easily imagine it getting much use in a classroom setting in the 19th century. But that’s part of the problem: this is really textbook material best used in a group setting—or at least one for a budding speaker who can work through these snippets slowly one at a time while perhaps saying them out loud to build up his skillset. The other issue is two paragraphs up: a modern reader picking this up may feel lost. The introduction is great, but I don’t think it’s enough on its own. Without even a small factoid of an introduction for each chapter, it’s very difficult for someone in our era to connect to most any of these chapters which combined with solo reading may make for a book that may not have as much value as it did in the past as it does now. Yes, I DNF’d this, but still recognize it’s cultural importance. Not a bad book, but perhaps not the best book for me and perhaps others who read for similar purposes as well.

[Dalton Peters]

This book may be older and more traditional, but it is absolutely excellent for anyone seeking to improve their knowledge and daily learning.

There is certainly great amounts of wisdom, wit, and intelligence ridden through each of its rustic pages. The power of Eloquence which rides its pages is often overwhelming in today's modern age, many readers of this may find themselves surprised something such as this isn't taught or given today in modern classrooms.

[Bob]

Lots of flowery language and mythologies of various religions and cultures with Christianity dominating. Many of the orations lacked a concise statement of a theme or purpose. For the modern reader, dates for the excerpts would be helpful, as well as notes on the historical background.

[Dayla]

Frederick Douglass used this book for inspiration, while writing his beautiful speeches. Also used for college students graduating in the 1770s.