Riccardo Rizza (main ed.) withMaria Helena Abreu, Encarnación
García Dini, Enrico Giaccherini, Walter Pagani, Peter Wolfgang Waentig
Colloquia, et dictionariolum octo linguarum Latinae, Gallicae, Belgicae,
Teutonicae, Hispanicae, Italicae, Anglicae, Portugallicae.
Viareggio-Lucca-Italy: Mauro Baroni editore s.d. [1996], I-XVI + [XVII]
+ [1-4] + 5a and b-189a and b + 190-200 + [201-204] pp. ISBN 88-85408-32-X.
It. Lira 100,000.00
The most reliable sources for the historiographical reconstruction of teaching
and learning a foreign language in the centuries of the past are, of course,
textbooks. The first to be printed for languages other than the classical
ones, in this case for German and Italian, is Adam of Rottweil's Introito
e porta, published in Venice in 1477. As a textbook-type it was similar
to older textbooks which circulated as manuscripts, for example the Liber
in volgaro of Magister George of Nuremberg, which was written in 1424
- also in German and Italian, and also in Venice. These books, obviously
meant for self-study, differed from the older as well as the contemporary
Latin textbooks by their practical approach, although there were also common
features. Such are, most of all, to be found in the topically-ordered word-lists.
But the selection of vocabulary, its arrangement, the incorporation of
grammar in communicative phrases and the dialogues prove that their aim
was not the bookish competence in Latin and Greek but a command of foreign
languages for everyday practical purposes.
Introito e porta developed into a wide spread of affiliated works
between 1477 and 1555 (Bart 1984). In all, 90 different editions are known
to us with eventually as many as eight languages arranged side by side.
This means that the textbook was available in all relevant language areas
of Europe and resulted in its leaving its mark on foreign language teaching
and learning in its special way almost everywhere. Latin was also included,
not as a learned language but as the common means of communication that
the Humanists wanted it to be. The development of a whole textbook-family
from one single publication is typical of the 16th and 17th centuries.1
It happened not only with Adam of Rottweil's Introito e porta, but
also with Colloquia et dictionariolum, a publication by Noel de
Berlaimont in Antwerp. The first extant edition of this textbook appeared
in 1530, but there were almost certainly earlier ones. The first known
full title reads:
Noel van Berlaimont scoolmeester Tantwerpen Vocabulare
von nyens gheordineert. Ende wederom gecorrigeert om lichtelic francois
to leeren lezen scriven ende sprecen dwelc gestelt is meestendeel bi personagien.
Vocabulaire de nouveau ordonne & de rechief recorrige
pour aprendre legierement a bien lire escripre & parler francois &
Flameng lequel est mis tout la plus par person naiges.
Dese vocabularen vintmen te coope Tantwerpen tot Willem
Vorsterman Inden gulden Enhoren Int jaer M.D.xxxvi. 4°.
Between 1530 and 1703 more than one hundred different editions of this
book appeared, again in up to eight European languages (Verdeyen 1925-1935;
Lindemann 1994). Like Introito e porta, the Colloquia et dictionariolum
was a work which spread over all relevant language areas of Europe
and left its characteristic imprint on the teaching and learning of foreign
languages, including 'common' Latin.
There is a third textbook-family with a similar impact. It originated
from William Bathe's Janua linguarum, first published in Salamanca
in 1611. It is a systematically arranged collection of sentences (O Mathúna
1986). Some thirty editions came out in various West-European languages
before 1634. Further editions are mentioned, particularly in Slavonic languages,
but these cannot be verifie.. In 1631 Comenius appropriated the title and
the principles of William Bathe's book, while changing its contents considerably.
This was published as his Janua linguarum reserata, of which
more than one hundred editions in all relevant European languages are known.
The story of the textbook-families proves that, from the beginning until
the end of the 17th century at least, the teaching of foreign vernaculars
was an international affair, a cultural activity in Europe of a homogeneous
character which did not alter with the languages taught. National individualisation
was only to occur only much later. It is therefore doubtful whether a treatment
of the history of language teaching at that time based on national divisions
(Caravolas 1994) can be adequate.
To my knowledge there is no reprint of Introito e porta available.
This makes historiographical research difficult. There is, however, a critical
edition of Liber in volgaro (Pausch 1972). The only reprint of one
of the many editions of Colloquia et dictionariolum is Verdeyen
(1925-1935), which is difficult to get hold of nowadays. There is no reprint
of Bathe's Janua, although a thorough study of this work is available
(O Mathúna 1986). Comenius' Janua was reprinted in the Opera
Omnia, volume 15/I (1986). The publication by Ricardo Rizza and his
team of a reprint of one of the eight-language editions of Colloquia
et dictionariolum cannot be too highly praised. With this, historiographical
research will be better placed to do justice to this extraordinary textbook
by analysing its lexis, its arrangement, and its dialogues. The exact title
of the reprinted book (continuing from the main title of the reprint) reads:
Liber omnibus linguarum studiosi domi, ac foris apprime
necessarius.
Colloques ou Dialogues avec un Dictionaire en huict
langues, Latin, Flamen, Francois, Alleman, Espaignol, Italien, Anglois
et Portuguez: nouvellement reveus, corrigéz, et aug[u]mentéz
de quatre Dialogues, très profitables et utils, tant au faict de
marchandise, qu'aux voiages et aultres traffiques.
Colloquien oft t'samen-sprekingen met eenen Vocabulaer
in acht spraken, Latijn, Francois, Neerduytsch, Hoochduytsch, Spaens, Italiens,
Enghels ende Portugijsch: van nieus verbetert ende vermeerdert van vier
Colloquien, seer nut ende profijtelick tot Coopmanschap, reyse ende a[n]der
handelinghen.
Venetiis, Ex Typographia Iuliana, MDCLVI. Superiorum
Permissu, et Privilegijs.
The title shows the aim of the work and its approach to language teaching.
The text is printed across the pages in eight parallel columns, repeating
the sequence of languages as mentioned in the title. There is a short introduction
clarifying the responsibilities of the various co-editors. A brief text
introduces the reader to the Berlaimont textbook-family. The columns are
printed carefully, with clear distinction between Roman and italicised
fonts, variants of spelling given in the footnotes. Pp. 5a+b to 9a+b contain
the address "To the Reader", pp. 10a+b to 12a+b "The Table of this Booke".
There then follow seven dialogues: "A dinner of ten persons" (pp.12a+b
to 48a+b), "For to learne to buye and sell" (pp. 48a+b to 60a+b), "For
to demaunde debtes" (pp.61a+b to 66a+b), "For to aske the way, with oter
familiar communicationis" (pp. 67a+b to 73a+b), "Common talke being in
the Inne" (pp. 67a+b to 86a+b), "Communication at the [v]prising" (pp.
86a+b to 93a+b), and "Proposes of marchandise" (pp. 931+b to 112a+b). These
are presented with dramatis personae and in as realistic terms as
possible, although a comparison with other dialogue books of the time shows
that the scenes are prototypical rather than original. The dialogues are
followed by tables giving numbers and the days of the week (pp. 112a+b
to 113a+b). Next comes a letter-writer's guide with a number of model letters
(pp. 114a+b to 138a+b), and finally an alphabetical dictionary (pp. 139a+b
to 189a+b). The work concludes with a short treatise on pronunciation and
grammatical morphology written in French for French, Italian, and Spanish,
but written in Italian for German, concluding with a few remarks, again
in French, for Italian, Spanish, French, and Low-Dutch. Each of these diverse
parts of the book deserves a close analysis with reference to the language,
the methods of language teaching and learning, and details of cultural
history. Colloquia et Dictionariolum is now available for everybody
who is interested in these questions. It is hoped that libraries all over
Europe will learn of its existence and add it to their stock.
References
Bart, Alda Rossebastiano(1984): Antichi vocabulari plurilingui d'uso
popolare: la tradizione del 'Solenissimo Vochabulista'. Alessandria:
Edizioni dell'Orso.
Caravolas, Jean-Antoine (1994): La didactique des langues. Précis
d'Histoire I 1450-1700. Montreal/Tübingen: Les Presses de l'Université
de Montréal/Gunter Narr.
Comenius, Johannes Amos (1636/1986): J. A. Comenii Janua Lingvarum
Reserata sive Seminarium Lingvarum Et Scientiarum Omnium. Hoc est [...].
Primúmque anno 1631 edita. Ed. by Marie Kyralová and
Martin Steiner. Opera Omnia Jan Amos Komenský, vol. 15/I,
Praha: Academia, pp. 257-301, notes pp. 482-509.
Lindemann, Margarete (1994): Die französischen Wörterbücher
von den Anfängen bis 1600. Entstehung und typologische Beschreibung.
Tübingen: Niemeyer.
O Mathúna, Seán P. (1986): William Bathe, S.J., 1564-1614.
A Pioneer in Linguistics. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
Pausch, Oskar (1972): Das älteste italienisch-deutsche Sprachbuch.
Eine Überlieferung aus dem Jahre 1424 nach Georg von Nürnberg.
Wien: Hermann Böhlau (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften).
Verdeyen, R. (1925-1935): Colloquia Et Dictionariolum Septem Linguarum.
Gedrukt door Fickaert Te Antwerpen In 1616 Op Nieuw Uitgegeven Door Prof.
Dr. [...]. I. Antwerpen/s'Gravenhage: Nederlandsche Boekhandel/M. Nijhoff
1926; II. Id. 1925; III. Antwerpen: Solvijnstraat, 70, 1935. Vereeniging
Der Antwerpsche Bibliophilen, Uitgave Nr. 39, 40, 42.
Werner Hüllen, Essen
Footnote
-
See the abstract of my conference paper "Habent sua fata
libelli" elsewhere in this Bulletin.
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