Clear and Thorough: Jenney’s 1st Year Latin Review

Clear and Thorough

Clear and thorough are the first words that come to mind when I think of Jenney’s First Year Latin.  No, those words don’t evoke a sense of excitement. But excitement is not the reason that this textbook series dominated high school Latin programs in the mid-late twentieth century. Excitement only goes so far. If you’re looking to learn or to teach Latin, clarity and thoroughness will win the race in the end.

Now I’m not talking about the heavily revised version of Jenney that came out in the 1990s, by the way. That revision tried to sacrifice clarity for pizzazz and ending up falling short on both counts. That’s not the book I’m reviewing here, although I’ll touch on it again before we’re through. My focus here is the versions of this series available in the 1970s and 1980s. The 1980s version (i.e., the “Ben Hur” edition) will be most valuable to learners of Latin today.

100 Years of Development

There were many versions of this textbook, by the way, going back to Smith’s Latin Lesson’s at the very beginning of the twentieth century. This website provides a detailed history of the program’s development. In any case, the book underwent countless revisions by numerous other contributors over the next hundred years.  Charles Jenney didn’t come on board until the 1950s, and his name wasn’t officially part of the book title until the 1980s.  

The 1980s version is what most people have in mind when they talk about the “classic” Jenney series

That 1980s version is what most people have in mind when they talk about the “classic” Jenney series.  It’s also the most easily available, other than the 1990s edition.  In order to help you appreciate its particular virtues and vices, however, I’d like to step back another decade, to the 1970 edition.  This was my textbook when I first started learning Latin in the fall of 1976.

Austere yet Effective

The austerely titled First Year Latin that I encountered as a high school freshman is an imposing book. There are only a few color pictures.  The review chapters are not numbered separately, so the table of contents is a seemingly endless run 75 chapters. The cover is a dark purplish color with a vaguely botanical black pattern running through it, and It is taller and narrower than other books. Imposing, Indeed.

Despite the somber appearance, First Year Latin does some things very well. The lessons on grammar and syntax are well organized and proceed in a logical manner.  It’s easy to find what you’re looking for.  The explanations are clear and thorough, but not too thorough. The student isn’t overwhelmed with masses of wordy text as in some other old-time textbooks (such as Wheelock’s Latin).

Well-Designed Exercises

The exercises, too, are well-designed.  They explicitly reinforce the grammar and syntax lessons presented in the same chapter.  There are plenty of them, but not too many (a complaint sometimes lodged against another old school text, Henle Latin). The exercises are varied. There are drills on forms, short translation sentences and long translation sentences. These last two go both ways, Latin to English and English to Latin.  The final thing in most chapters is a short Latin to English translation passage.

I, a disorganized (intellectually and just generally) adolescent, found the clarity and order of the presentation enormously helpful.  Others, both teachers and students, clearly agreed, because First Year Latin in this and in its subsequent iteration was one of the most successful Latin textbooks of the day.

The Downside

So why change?  The most significant reason is the lack of emphasis on translation of longer Latin passages. The passages at the end of each chapter are short, and often have little connection to real literary or historical sources.  The book does include some supplementary readings after chapter 75, the “Story of Ulysses” from Ritchie’s Fabulae Faciles. Most students won’t be equipped to deal with these, however, until they’ve worked through most of the chapters in the text.

First Year Latin emerged in an era when English grammar and ancient history were essential parts of the curriculum. For that reason, the text assumes greater knowledge in those areas on the part of students than had become the norm by the end of the 1970s.  Also, students who grew up watching color television expected livelier, more colorful school books. Much livelier and more colorful.

The Ben Hur Edition

Hence, the transformation into Jenney’s First Year Latin c. 1980. The review chapters (every fifth chapter) now follow a separate numbering system.  Consequently, the table of contents has been transformed from a seemingly endless list of 75 chapters into manageable 5 chapter sections. In addition, There are quite a few more decorative touches. Not only are there more color pictures (including some from the BBC series I, Claudius), but mosaic patterned borders on the title page of each chapter, many of them in color.  The typeface and layout are less severe. Even the physical dimensions of the book are now comparable to those of other textbooks.  Best of all, the cover now boasts an action shot of Charleton Heston (as Ben Hur) thundering around the Circus in his four horse chariot.

More significant (if less obvious) are the changes to the reading passages.  These have been somewhat expanded.  The book’s editors have also made an effort to use them to provide more historical, literary, and cultural context.  The passages in the first fifteen chapters are all drawn from Vergil’s Aeneid, and the others deal with historical events and personages.

Eye Appeal: The same chapter from the 1970s edition (top) and the 1980s edition (bottom)

Second to None

Most significant of all, however, is what has not changed. The editors had the good sense not to mess with the program’s strongest assets.  There are only very minor changes to the grammar and syntax lessons and the accompanying exercises. The now (relatively) eye-pleasing 1980s Jenney’s First Year Latin stands second to none in its ability to present Latin grammar and syntax at a level appropriate to secondary age students. At least those students reasonably conversant with the grammatical conventions of their native language . . .  

So why the radical change in the 1990 edition?  Sadly, even Ben Hur in his chariot couldn’t compete in the eye appeal department with the new, much more visually interesting (if not so rigorous) textbooks that were becoming the norm. Not only that, Jenney’s systematic emphasis on grammar put it out of step with the now popular reading based approach.

It All Depends . . .

The 1990 revision was an attempt to drag Jenney up to the threshold of the 21st century.  It was certainly much more colorful, and packed with all sorts of new stuff.  Unfortunately, in the process the text sacrificed its strongest feature, its clarity.  When I tried to use the new edition in my classes, both my students and I were frustrated with the results.

At the same time, the superior Ben Hur edition of the book was no longer sufficient. When I last tried using it as a classroom text a couple of decades ago I spent far too much time finding supplementary material.  And the students just couldn’t warm up to my old friend Jenney.

And yet, that’s not my final judgment on Jenney’s First Year Latin. No, I no longer use Jenney in the classroom.  I have used it quite successfully, however, with homeschool students in the past few years.  It’s worked very well both as a one-on-one text with individual students, and also in semi-formal classes of up to 6-8 homeschool students.  It turns out that homeschoolers, especially those following a classical curriculum, have just the sort of educational preparation that First Year Latin was designed for.

The Summary

In sum, the 1980s Ben Hur edition of Jenney’s First Year Latin has some significant strengths, but also some weaknesses.  I don’t recommend it as the primary text for most conventional classrooms unless you have a group of students who are unusually well prepared in English grammar and ancient history . . . and are not extremely overstimulated by electronic media. It could, however, be a very useful supplement or reference book for these classes.

I do recommend Jenney as a good basic text for homeschoolers, or if you’re going the autodictactic route and learning Latin on your own. The clarity of the explanations and the aptness of the examples and exercises can’t be beat. In this case you will need other resources as well.  Fortunately, supplementing is much less cumbersome when you’re working in a less institutional setting.  You would particularly want to find a good source of Latin readings adapted to beginning and intermediate students.

Rating: ★ ★ ★

Not ideal for most classrooms . . . BUT Jenney’s First Year Latin is still a great text for homeschool or DIY students, and an excellent grammar supplement or reference.

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