Aesop's Fables in English & Latin, Interlineary, for the Benefit of those who not having a Master, Would Learn Either of these Tongues

Abstract

There are 337 pages for two-hundred-and-thirty fables. I think I laughed at Locke's project when I first read of it. It makes more sense to me now. He is trying to help people who cannot get to school to learn Latin, and he wisely conjectures that his book can also help those who already know Latin but need to learn English. He admits in his preface that the English here will not be stellar. But it will clearly reflect the Latin. The printer does a good job of varying the typeface, so that a reader can easily see which Latin and English words correspond to each other. While I am still not a fan of this method of learning, I admire the project and the practical working of Locke's mind to offer a method for learning Latin. The title-page promises sculptures but they are not here. As I recall, they are not so much fable illustrations as animal illustrations, perhaps meant for the young who may not yet have experienced some of the various animals mentioned here. There is a page of errata just before the beginning AI. Bodemann mentions the five pages of illustrations, with sixteen pictures each of individual animals. I had forgotten that Locke's name is not mentioned in the book and was frustrated at first when searching for the book in Bodemann under Locke's name. This is apparently the first edition (1703) without pictures. I wonder why no one has ever reprinted this book.