D. Appleton & Co. publish, uniform with this volume, MEZZOFANTI'S SYSTEM OF LEARNING LANGUAGES APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF FRENCH. FIRST FRENCH READER. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. New York Courier and Enquirer. The plan as laid down by PROFESSOR ROEMER is clear, easy, and concise, and we can recommend it not only to those who wish to obtain a cursory knowledge of French, but also to such as may intend studying it thoroughly. To etymologists this work will be of peculiar value, by giving them ideas with regard to the origin of the French and English languages, which we do not remember to have seen in any other work. The "Reader" is well selected, and the "Rules for French Versification" will be eminently useful to those who wish either fully to appreciate the beauties of the best French poets, or who may feel inclined to try their own muse. We doubt not it will become a standard work. Journal of Commerce. We approve highly of the method so ably advocated by PROFESSOR ROEMER; it is simple, encouraging in its nature, and more likely to conduct the student to a sound knowledge of the structure of the language than any other with which we are acquainted. The introductory remarks on the history and analogies of the French language are practical and suggestive. An admirable treatise on French versification (generally neglected in tuition), and a copious dictionary of idioms, &c., are very important features in the work. The progressive reading exercises, in prose and verse, have been selected with great taste, and justly claim for the volume the additional merit of being highly interesting even to those who have mastered the language, and now cultivate its literature. New York Commercial Advertiser. We invite attention to this new French Reader, which seems admirably adapted to the use of the student, and especially to the code of instructions and explanations with which it is introduced; the whole forming, as we conceive, a book of exceeding value to both learners and teachers, and capable of greatly facilitating the labors of both. The preliminary treatise on the analytical relations of the English and French languages appears to us especially valuable; as does also that on the rules of French versification; and both have the merit of being quite new, at least to English students. New York Express. This is a book which will be found eminently useful to all persons wishing to acquire a perfect knowledge of the French language, and interesting to those who take pleasure in studying the etymology of our own. The system itself is simple, and we think well calculated to assist persons of any moderate capacity in the speedy acquirement of a knowledge of the French language, and teachers in schools will find it a very powerful auxiliary. The dictionary of idioms, proverbs, peculiar expressions, &c., is the most copious we have seen, and many of our translators, who have not had the advantage of a long residence in France, would do well to refer to it. It should, in fact, be on the table of every person who reads French. New York Tribune. The author has accomplished the task with great ability. His Treatises on the Analytical Study of the French Language, and on the Rules of French Versification, evince a true philological tact, and the selections which compose the body of the work are made with excellent discrimination, from the most agreeable specimens of French literature. We are persuaded that this volume may be of eminent service in the acquisition of the French language, and that it may also be consulted with great advantage by the mature student. Without reference to its value as a manual, it is, in fact, a tasteful collection of “elegant extracts." New York Evening Post. In connection with a grammar of the system, an excellent Treatise on French Versification, and a Dictionary of Idioms, PROFESSOR ROEMER includes in his work a collection of extracts, in prose and verse, from the best French writers, selected with admirable taste and judgment, and with particular reference to the requirements of the American student. If the work had put forward no other claim to attention than its excellence as a French Reader, we could predict for it a hearty welcome from the teachers of America, who have long felt the want of such a book. Home Journal. A peculiar advantage of this system is, that it gives the pupil all etymology and knowledge of his own language, that has hitherto been exclusively claimed for the Latin. As a compilation of elegant extracts this volume is superior to any that have appeared in this department, particularly in reference to the adaptation of the selections to the taste and requirements of the American public. It is, in short, one of the most original, ingenious, and useful manuals yet published, and will prove a treasure to the student of French. Albion. When we think of the manner in which boys were wont to blunder over grammars, and grope their way to knowledge, we are glad to meet with such valuable aid in the pursuit of a more rational plan. Literary World. We think this book is a highly valuable addition to the publications of Ollendorff, and particularly in what the latter need-a good Reading Book. It is prepared with tact, and is the result, likewise, of practical experience. The introductory chapters on the history, and Greek, Latin, and English analogies of the language, are suggestive, and of sound practical use in the hands of a good teacher. Revue du Nouveau-Monde. Ouvrage classique et complet dont la nécessité se faisait sentir depuis longtemps, et qui plus que tous les livres publiés jusqu'ici aux Etats-Unis sur les langues étrangères, réunit à la clarté des définitions et des exemples, le merite de l'application pratique, dont l'auteur s'est avant tout preoccupé. C'est d'après le système ingénieux et en même temps rationnel du Cardinal Mezzofanti qui considérait l'analogie comme le moyen le plus efficace à employer dans l'étude des langues, que M. ROEMER a tracé le plan de son enseignement, et nous n'hésitons pas, quant à nous, à le feliciter d'une idée dont tous ceux qui suivront son cours ne tarderont pas à reconnaître l'efficacité.-En outre, pour exercer les élèves à traduire et à lire à haute voix, ce qui en pays étranger est le seul moyen de se former à la prononciation, l'auteur a rassemble, avec un soin scrupuleux, un certain nombre de morceaux de prose et de poésie extraits des auteurs français les plus corrects, et choisis d'après le goût et les tendances de ce pays.-Puis vient une étude comparée de la poésie française précédée d'un traité de versification, où après avoir donné des notions préliminaires sur le rythme poétique, M. ROEMER pose les règles générales qu'il appuie de nombreux exemples judicieusement présentés.-Le volume se termine par un dictionnaire d'idiotismes, proverbes, etc., qui nous a paru plus complet et mieux adapté au langage moderne que tous ceux qui, jusqu'ici, nous ont passé par les mains. Courrier des Etats-Unis. Dans cet ouvrage, qui a pour base le système du Cardinal Mezzofanti, qui à juste titre occupé la première place parmi les philologues modernes, l'auteur procède à son enseignement par la comparaison et l'analyse, qu'il appuie sur l'étymologie et sur des moyens mné moniques d'une grande simplicité. Il évite les définitions grammaticales et se montre dans l'exposé des règles g nérales d'une sobriété dont nous lui savons gré; car nous pensons, comme lui, que trop d'explications surchargent l'intelligence de l'élève d'un bagage théorique plus nuisible que profitable. Outre un choix judicieux de morceaux de prose et de poésie extraits des meilleurs auteurs français, ce volume contient un traite de versification française, et un dictionnaire d'idiotismes, de proverbes, etc., qui termine l'ouvrage et qui nous paraît fort bien adapté à la conversation française contemporaine. Un livre pareil ne peut manquer de recevoir partout un favorable accueil. OF LEARNING LANGUAGES APPLIED TO THE STUDY OF FRENCH. SECOND FRENCH READER. ILLUSTRATED WITH HISTORICAL, GEOGRAPHICAL, PHILOSOPHICAL, BY J. ROEMER, PROFESSOR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN THE NEW YORK FREE ACADEMY. Se questa “Scelta” non s'è dispiaciuta affatto, vogliate bene agli autori ed anche un Edue T 1518.51.730 HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY GIFT OF GEORGE ARTHUR PLIMPTON Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1850, BY D. APPLETON & COMPANY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern PREFACE. HAVING perused the first volume of this work, the student will have acquired sufficient knowledge of the French language to read and translate with facility both poetry and prose. The next requisites are practice and experience, in order to give him that finish which can only be acquired by familiarity with the best modern authors, and, at the same time, induce a proper appreciation of their literary merit. Many works having this object in view already exist, bearing high testimony to the taste and discrimination of their compilers; but in their arrangement a plan has been adopted differing from the one here proposed, the prominent feature of which is the association of ideas. The general idea with regard to a work of this kind is, that it should present a series of well-selected articles worthy to serve as models of style. Two questions here arise: first, for whom is it intended? secondly, what is the end designed ?—that is, is it written in the vernacular of the student, or in a foreign tongue ? And if in the latter, is it elementary, to familiarize him with |