Old Books And History

I visited a bookstore in Moscow, ID and found two books printed, one in 1959 and the other in 1960 by The Macmillan Company. They are two parts of a series of textbooks on Latin titled, somewhat appropriately, Latin For Americans Books 1 and 2.

I spent almost an hour browsing through the store, but didn't find anything interesting until I saw these two. They were quite used and tattered, the second of the two had a battered, ground-up top right edge, almost like it'd been dropped from a car. They were both cheap enough ($2 and $5) that I didn't think twice about buying them.

The authors were B. L. Ullman, who was the Kenan Professor of Classics and Chairman of the Department, University of North Carolina, and Norman E. Henry, late Teacher of Latin, Peabody High School, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Apart from the "curio" effect of buying them, none of my books are just that: every one of my books are to be read, pored over and studied. At least, that's always the original intention anyway.

The introduction to the first book, Book 1, made me glad I bought them. It starts out, as most textbooks do, with the usual "What's new in this edition?" then, like a ray of sunshine, this:

As in the two preceding editions of this book, the title Latin for Americans is based on some of the leading features of the book. Among these are the comparisons between ancient and modern life in the "Glimpses of Roman Life" and in the reading selections; the emphasis on the American way of life, good citizenship, and democracy throughout the book; the prominence of the English word studies, which occur in every lesson; the emphasis on correct grammatical suage in English; the many illustrations of American buildings that imitate the ancient models and of other American material; the quotation of Latin phrases used on American buildings and as American mottoes; and the listing of American towns, firms, and organizations having ancient names. It is firmly believed that this book, by making young Americans more deeply aware of their cultural heritage, will help make better Americans. [My emphasis]

And this is in a textbook for heaven's sakes! Would you believe such wording in any textbook today? This is a book written by tutors who understand that it is the job of academia to instill not only superficial knowledge, but knowledge in and for the greater good, that of making better Americans. This is fantastic!

And just as suddenly, my elation at this suddenly melted into a puddle of gloom when I realized that this book which was printed in 1960, is now no longer relevant. Not only for the reason that it teaches a "dead" language, but that it is no longer "relevant," cast to the great dust heap of History as so much junk. Any textbook author daring to write such ignominy would very likely lose their job and any publisher their reputation.

How dare you write anything positive about American culture? Don't you know, sir, just how bad we all are? All of us Indian killers, world meddlers. Nay, nothing but self-flagellation for us because We. Deserve. Nothing. Better!

How far we've come. How low.