I think Im going to invest for a hard copy lexicon.
does anyone here familiar with Chamber’s Murray latin english dictionary? is it worth buying?
how does it compare to let say cassel’s or harper collins’?
or is there another ‘intermediate’ dictionary worth considering, that is sufficient for most of the time, comparable to middle-scot in lingua Graeca?
sry if this has been asked before
Are you more interested in classical Latin or in late/medieval Latin?
How much are you willing to spend?
If you really want a dictionary that will serve you for life, no matter how far you go in Latin, Lewis & Short’s Latin Dictionary is the best (short of the Oxford Latin Dictionary). You can pick up used copies for about US$80 + shipping (it’s a heavy tome) on Abebooks or Amazon:
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=Lewis+Short&sts=t&tn=Latin
It provides ample citations to specific authors and a detailed breakdown of the various usages of each word.
There is an elementary version of this, by Lewis alone, which is limited to the major classical authors (“the authors commonly read in schools”), without specific citations but with attributions to specific authors.
This might be enough for you, supplemented by the on-line version of the big Lewis & Short.
Chambers Murray looks to be much better than Collins or Cassell, but some of the “reviews” on Amazon warn of missing pages in the reprint edition.
well actually my aim is to get just basic latin to fill in the hole because I start with greek first.
as I find that old but good Greek book assumed one familiarity with Latin..
but if at some point of time I can read caesar or cicero that would be better
so, I think I’ll get the elementary version by lewis
thank you!