Classica Americana. An Addendum to the Censuses of Pre-1800 Latin Texts from British North America

Abstract

This article updates the censuses of North American Neo‑Latin prose and poetry undertaken by the late Leo M. Kaiser, to which it adds over one hundred and fifty items, preserved largely in manuscript collections in New England. The genres run the gamut of early modern Latin, from academic oratory to occasional verse, while the addendum also includes works by a number of notable figures in early American history, including Increase Mather (1639‑1723), James Logan (1674‑1751), William Shirley (1694‑1771), John Witherspoon (1722‑1794), John Phillips (1770‑1823) and Aaron Burr Sr. (1716‑1757). The census is prefaced by an introduction that places the works in their broader intellectual context and briefly discusses the life and learning of British America’s last humanist in the Renaissance mold, Ezra Stiles (1727‑1795), whose Latinity makes up a significant proportion of the addendum.