Saint Augustine's Confessions Book I: Latin Text with Facing Vocabulary and Commentary

by Joshua Calvin Shaw

This intermediate commentary on the Latin text of book one of Augustine's Confessions contains 10 lines of Dr. James O'Donnell's Latin text, to which are appended all words occurring 5 times or less and grammatical notes after the style of other commentators such as Clyde Pharr and Geoffrey Steadman. The commentary also has a running vocabulary of all words occurring 5 times or more at the beginning of the work, as well as an alphabetized version of this list at the end of the work. The purpose of this commentary is to help intermediate students of Latin make the jump from Cicero and Caesar to Augustine's beautiful Latin prose. After memorizing the words in the running vocabulary, the student should be able to read Augustine's Confessions without turning the page or consulting other grammars and dictionaries. Nevertheless, for the student who wants more, references to standard works on grammar and syntax are also supplied.

109 pages, Paperback

Published May 4, 2020

Reviews

[Duarte · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for S. Augustine. The grammatical commentary, however, was only mildly useful. Many times where I found a confusing latin phrase, the author ignored it and chose to explain trivial passages instead.

[Maya Joelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Augustine: marvelous as usual. Everyone should read the Confessions.

Shaw's commentary: a few typos & some contestable interpretations, but overall very helpful and a good way to read Augustine for the first time.

moriar, ne moriar, ut faciem tuam videam

[Eric Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a major help in my enjoyment of translating the Confessions. While there are several misprints and a few places I disagree with the author’s grammatical interpretation, the fact that this book exists is a wonderful boon to amateur Latinists like myself. Thank you, Mr. (Dr.?) Shaw!

[Sam McCullough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes the notes were detailed when you didn’t need them to be and absent when you did need them, but overall great text and helpful commentary.