ANTHON'S SERIES OF CLASSICAL WORKS FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. FROM WILLIAM A. Duer, LL.D., President, of Columbia COLLEGE, IN THE CITY OF NEW-YORK. Columbia College, N. Y., May 4, 1838. Messrs. HARPER & BROTHERS, Gentlemen-I have examined the first three volumes issued from your press, of a series of classic works now in the course of preparation by Professor Anthon of this college, with a view to furnish accurate and uniform editions of all the classical authors of antiquity read in our colleges and schools, to be printed from the best texts, and accompanied by such a commentary in the English language as may effectually aid the student in overcoming the difficulties of the original, and at the same time open to him the wide field of mental discipline and culture afforded by classical pursuits and the auxiliary studies connected with these. From the manner in which this undertaking has been so far executed, as well as from the established character and reputation of Professor Anthon as a scholar, his experience as an instructer, and the accuracy and judgment previously evinced by him as an editor and commentator, I can entertain no doubt of the success of the enterprise, so far as his editorial labours and your own skill and experience as publishers are concerned; and I trust that, from the increasing value of classical studies in the estimation of the public, this judicious and spirited effort to facilitate and promote so important a branch of education will be duly appreciated and liberally rewarded. I remain, gentlemen, Your obedient servant, FROM WILBUR FISK, D.D., President of the Wesleyan University, at Middletown, Conn. Messrs. HARPER & BROTHERS, Gentlemen-I am highly gratified to notice that you have commenced a series of the classics under the editorial supervision of that accomplished scholar, Professor Anthon of Columbia College. No man in our country is better qualified for this office than Professor Anthon. To show in what estimation he is held in England as a classical scholar, it need only be known that an edition of his "Horace" has been published in London, and the publishers informed me that the entire edition had met with a ready sale; showing that, notwithstanding the numerous editions of this standard work by the first scholars in England, the credit of the work by our American scholar had carried it successfully through the English market, and that, too, by virtue of its intrinsic merit. Your editions of his Cæsar, Cicero, and Sallust are now before me, and show that there is no falling off from the reputation of the edition of Horace. The copious notes and commentaries cannot fail to shed a flood of light upon the mind of the young student, and will contribute much, I trust, to foster in the rising generation of scholars a taste for the ancient classics. Yours respectfully, WILBUR FISK, May 8, 1838. FROM H. HUMPHREY, D.D., PRESIDENT OF AMHERST COLLEGE, AT AMHERST, MASS. Messrs. HARPER, Gentlemen-I am very happy to see that you have undertaken to furnish uniform editions of the Latin classics for the use of our grammar schools and higher seminaries of learning. Professor Anthon deserves and will receive the thanks of the public for the labour which he has so judiciously and successfully bestowed upon Sallust, Cæsar, and Cicero. The explanatory notes or commentaries are more copious and comprehensive than those of any other edition I have seen, and much better adapted to the wants of young students. Among the most valuable of these notes are those which divert attention to the beautiful uses of the moods and tenses, and explain the delicate shades of meaning and peculiar beauties that depend upon them, which our language often expresses imperfectly and with difficulty, and which young learners rarely regard. The explanations of the force and meaning of the particles are also very useful. The historical, geographical, and other indexes are also highly valuable, furnishing the student, as they do, with felicitous illustrations of the text, and much general information. The text seems to be settled with much care and ability. The editions adopted as the basis or referred to as authority are those in the highest repute among scholars. The typographical execution is very fine, and this is a high merit. The wretched reprints of foreign editions of the classics, got up in cheap offices, on wretched paper, with incompetent proof-readers and no editors, to which, until within a very few years, our students have been universally condemned, have, by taking them young, been as successful in making them uncertain and inaccurate scholars as if that had been one of the main objects of the publishSchool books of all kinds, instead of being the worst (as they often are), should be the most carefully printed books we have. ers. May 15, 1838. H. HUMPHREY. FROM THE CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE AND JOURNAL. Anthon's Casar.-It is with great pleasure that we perceive that the Messrs. Harper are continuing their excellent series of American classics, under the authority and editorship of that erudite and mature scholar, Professor Anthon. This is the third of the series, professing to be for the use of schools and colleges, but, in truth, so correct in text, so elaborate in commentaries, so vastly superior, in clearness, depth, and variety of information, to any which have gone before, that no man, however thoroughly imbued with classic lore, has any right to consider these admirable works beneath his notice, or suited only to the half-formed intellect of young beginners. "Sallust" and "Cicero" preceded " Cæsar;" and though excellent, were neither of them, we conceive, quite equal to the present work, on which no pains have been spared that the most painful research and the keenest habits of literary disquisition can accomplish. In addition to a complete series of notes, explanatory and critical, it possesses three copious indexes of history, antiquities, and FROM THE RT. REV. BISHOP M'ILVAINE, PRESIDENT OF KENYON COLLEGE, AT GAMBIER, OHIO. Messrs. HARPER & BROTHERS, Kenyon College, July 30, 1838. I anticipate the greatest benefits to our schools and colleges from the admirable edition of the classics which you are now publishing, under the superintendence and illustrated by the copious and learned notes of Professor Anthon. What your accomplished editor has aimed at in his Horace, Cæsar, and other volumes of the series, few can have been much connected with classical institutions in this country without learning to be precisely the one needful thing to their students. The object is most satisfactorily attained. The needed books we have, so far as your series has yet been published; and as to what are yet to come, we have learned from what we have, if I may use the words of one of your authors, quæ a summa virtute summoque ingenio expectanda sunt, expectare. Wishing you the most abundant encouragement in your important enterprise, I remain, Gentlemen, Your obedient servant, CHAS. P. M'ILVAINE. FROM THE COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER. The established reputation of Professor Anthon for sound learning and classic taste affords a sure guarantee for the value of the Greek Grammar which has just been issued by the Messrs. Harper. From a cursory examination of the work, we are persuaded that it is well calculated to facilitate the acquisition of the language, and obviously to render easy to the learner the abstruse and difficult parts of the grammar. In the absence of the living teacher, it may be confidently affirmed that more knowledge of Greek can be attained from this grammar than from any work extant, while the scholar will find it as a book of reference most invaluable. FROM THE NEW-YORK TIMES. ANTHON'S GREEK GRAMMAR. Harper & Brothers. As a philologist and a classical scholar, Professor Anthon has no superior in the United States; and his schoolbooks have been deservedly popular, both in England and in this country. His Greek Grammar, now before us, will add to his reputation, and we commend it to the attention of classical teachers as a work eminently calculated to facilitate and promote the study of the language. In our opinion, it is decidedly superior to any of the Greek Grammars now used in our preparatory schools. FROM THE NEW-YORK NEWS. This is a great improvement on the grammars which have hitherto been used in our colleges and schools, and ought to supersede them all. Much is simplified to the comprehension of the youthful student, and the declensions, particularly, are arranged so as to facilitate their study. |