Latin Prose Composition

by North and Hillard

Latin Prose Composition for the Middle Forms of Schools by North and Hillard is perhaps the best known Latin composition book. First authored in the late 19th century, this Latin composition book is still taught in classrooms to this day.

Because the use of composition books had steadily declined in the United States, this book today in the U.S. is typically used at the college level among second year Latin students. Historically in Great Britain however, this book was intended for school children of about the age of 14 who had already studied Latin for at least one year. From the period of about 1880 to 1930 in Great Britain, the United States and elsewhere composition books were in widespread use. Educators from this period felt strongly that the act of composing Latin, even at the earliest stages of one’s education, helped better trained the learner in reading Latin. We at Textkit strongly support this position and encourage you to add composition exercises to your Latin education.

This book is intended for learners who have already mastered basic construction and grammar. No help is given in this book on these points and therefore a good reference grammar such as Allen and Greenough’s New Latin Grammar is suggested. Each lesson presents a new concept such as Indirect Statement, Direct Command or Verses of Fearing. The lessons consist of sentences or passages in English that are to be composed into meaningful Latin by the learner. To aid the learner, special vocabularies to be used with each lesson are given. Also provided is help with prepositional phrases and synonyms. A military vocabulary along with a much wider general vocabulary is also provided.