Documents in Medieval Latin.(Review)

John Thorley's Documents in Medieval Latin (London: Duckworth P., 1998; pp. 199. Pb. 12.95 [pounds sterling]) is a very useful book, containing a brief introduction which both surveys the use of Latin in English documents and historical writings, and gives a summary of common changes in syntax from classical to medieval Latin. Six chapters then follow with documents and writings, from the Anglo-Saxon period down to map inscriptions of the sixteenth century and letters from and to Erasmus. There is a brief bibliography of standard grammars, dictionaries and more specialized books; and last, there are the translations of all the texts presented. The book fully achieves what it …