Western European Language books in Balliol
An outline of Balliol College’s holdings in European languages is an outline of the history of
modern foreign languages in Britain, and in Oxford in particular, over the last five centuries.
This small exhibition aims to reflect that history by highlighting some of the books used for
language learning, and also some of the texts used – today and in the past – to study the
literatures and cultures of Western Europe.
Learning Languages
1. Alberto Accarisio, Vocabolario, grammatica, et orthographia de la lingua volgare
(Cento, 1543). In the sixteenth century Latin, Greek, and Hebrew were the only languages thought
worthy of study, and because scholars could communicate Europe-wide in Latin, vernacular
languages were rarely learned by others. Writers including Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio had
raised the reputation of Italian, but this dictionary of ‘hard words’ — common long before the idea
of a comprehensive language dictionary took hold — is intended only to help native-speakers, and
Italian is still described somewhat disparagingly as a language of the common people, or ‘la lingua
volgare’. From the bequest of P J Toynbee, 1932.
2. César Oudin, Le thresor des trois langues, Espagnole, Françoise, et Italienne (Geneva,
1617). By the seventeenth century, attitudes had changed, and more people were interested in the
languages of their neighbours. As secretary for foreign languages to Henri IV of Navarre, César
Oudin assisted with diplomatic missions to Germany and also translated a number of Spanish literary
works into French. The first version of this work included only Spanish and French texts, but was
plagiarized and expanded into three languages by Girolamo Vittori, which Oudin stole back when he
produced this expanded version. Despite his own mastery of several languages, Oudin produced
this ’treasury’ for an audience which he knew was more interested in reading literature or picking
out the wittiest and most beautiful passages to use in their own writing or conversation, than really
learning another language.
3. Randle Cotgrave, A dictionarie of the French and English tongues (London, 1632). With
some 48000 headwords, this was by far the most substantial French word-list of its day. Cotgrave,
who was secretary to William Cecil, Elizabeth I’s chief minister, presumably produced this Frenchto-English list to aid those translating correspondence. His encyclopedic, and often humorous
definitions were definitely intended for an English audience. (have a look at ’Merci, dieu villain’, and
’Mercier’, among others!) Printed at the back is Robert Sherwood’s ‘dictionarie of the English set
before the French’, which makes this volume closer to the comprehensive dual-language dictionary
we know today, but that it was necessary to explain that the two were put together ‘for the
commoditie of all such as are desirous of both the languages’ suggests that thoroughly learning a
second modern language was still an unusual idea. From the bequest of Sir Thomas Wendy,
1677.
4. Claude Arnoux, Parallels of the sounds and syllables of the French and English languages:
or, the French pronunciation made easy to the English learner. (London, 1730). By 1730, it
was customary for wealthy young men to make a Grand Tour of Europe, so interest in learning
modern foreign languages had greatly increased. Here we have a tool really intended to assist, as the
title-page claims, ‘the easy and speedy attaining the true pronunciation of the French tongue’ by ‘a
method entirely new’. The literary focus is still present as this book also contains a section on how
to read and pronounce French poetry, but the clear layout and personal tone of the instructions and
the author’s tips, ‘the English must pronounce these…’, ‘I here lay out’, make this a practical aid for
learners.
5. Volksbücher (Leipzig, 1838). In the nineteenth century, it was widely thought that teaching of
languages in Oxford would provide only such skills ‘as would be useful for a courier or a foreign
clerk, or to a gentleman setting out for his first tour on the continent’ (M Pattison, Suggestions on
Academical Organisation, 132). Along with the notion that their study did not demand the same
rigour as classical or Biblical languages, this was why there was no degree in modern languages here
until 1903. Historical linguistics, had, however, developed as a discipline, and so was one route to
language learning in Oxford. F L Armitage was a lecturer at Balliol College specializing in Old High
German, and left his library of editions of medieval German poetry and grammar books to Balliol.
Armitage’s interest in medieval literature led him to look for its traces in folktales, collected in these
cheaply printed chapbooks, or Volksbücher, with their lively woodcuts. From the Armitage
Library, 1912.
Literature and Culture
6. Biblia, trans. Martin Luther (Wittenberg, 1541). With 750 years in which to have amassed
its library, it is no surprise that Balliol has acquired books from publishing houses all across Europe.
Wherever they came from, however, most of them were in Latin. One notable exception is the
Luther Bible. As one of the sparks for the Reformation and a cornerstone of Protestantism, this
book is significant precisely because it is in German. Luther’s New Testament was printed in 1522,
and the full Bible in 1534. Printed just nine years later, this copy is one of a very few on vellum, and
is hand illustrated and illuminated throughout. It was intended as a presentation copy for Johann
Friedrich I, Elector of Saxony and head of the German Protestant Confedation, whose portrait is
painted inside – every luxurious feature trumpets the rapid spread and success of a Bible which
congregations could understand themselves. The blue velvet binding and elaborate clasps are a
nineteenth-century addition, and demonstrate the continued high status of this book. Donated by
Richard Prosser, Bishop of Durham, 1819.
7. Niccolò Machiavelli, Il principe (Florence, 1532). This is a first edition of one of the most
notorious books in Europe, containing candid advice on acquiring and maintaining power which made
its author’s name synonymous with political scheming. It was so controversial that it was on the
Catholic Church’s first list of banned books in 1557, and it is clear that the owner was wary of it.
Stamped in gilt on the upper and lower boards in Latin is: ‘Nulla fas legere nisis impetrate licentia’ –
[Not to be read without obtaining permission]. The publisher obviously considered this a work
worth spending time on, as the red-ruled lines are an imitation of the appearance of manuscript
books, and the initial capitals were supposed to be completed by hand. Written in Machiavelli’s
Tuscan dialect, this is one of a number of influential works which led Tuscan to become the basis of
modern standard Italian. From the bequest of P J Toynbee, 1932.
8. Dante Alighieri, [The Divine Comedy] Opere del diuino poeta Danthe (Venice, 1520)
As one of the most famous works of European literature since it was written, it is unsurprising that
Dante’s Divine Comedy was another of the works which elevated the status of Tuscan above other
dialects. By the time this book was printed, over two hundred years since the poem was written, it
had been studied and commented upon by many – remember that the first item in this exhibition
was to assist with reading Dante – and the idea of an annotated edition like this one, where the
original text is swamped by the notes and interpretations of a later scholar, will be familiar from
modern editions of classic poetry and drama. Oxford scholars would not have studied Dante at that
time, and this book only came to Balliol in the twentieth century, as part of a collection of early
Italian authors. From the bequest of P J Toynbee, 1932.
9. Félix Arturo Lope de Vega y Carpio, Isidro: Poema castellano (Madrid, 1603). The most
remarkable thing about this book is that it is here at all, and seems to have been for at least two
hundred years. Lope de Vega is most famous for his plays but drama would never have been found
in an academic library in the seventeenth century. The founder of the Bodleian, for example, called
plays ‘riff-raff’ and ‘baggage books’, specifying they were to be excluded from his library, though he
did concede that some foreign playwrights had merit. Lope’s poetry is also some of the most
significant of its period, but it is surprising that a Catholic poem about St Isidore, the patron saint to
Madrid, made it into the library before the nineteenth century. It is worth noting that this book
describes itself and its language as Castilian, a reminder that at this time everyone spoke a regional
language, as Castilian had not yet become the ‘standard’ Spanish language.
10. Paul Verlaine, Les poètes maudits, nouvelle édition (Paris, 1888). This book popularized
the idea of the poète maudit, or the ‘cursed poet’, as an artist living counter to society, often in tragic
circumstances. As such, it is a work of literary theory and criticism, quoting and commenting upon
the work of several French poets. This copy is from the second, expanded, edition, which was the
first to include portraits of the subjects. However, this was not bought by Balliol to assist with
teaching, but was part of a set of a collection of early editions of Verlaine by a collector, donated to
the library in the twenties. From the bequest of William Paton Ker, 1923.
If you look back through this leaflet, you’ll see that most of the books displayed were acquired long
after they were published, and by gift, rather than deliberate acquisition. This reflects the neglect of
modern languages in universities until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but hopefully, this has
now been thoroughly corrected!
We hope you enjoyed your visit to St Cross.
Fiona Godber (Acting Librarian)
Anna Sander (Archivist & Curator of Manuscripts)