austraLasia #3149
The beginnings of the Oratory: Fragments and documents
We are talking about Part 1 of Braido's Don Bosco the Educator, where he collects and comments (in one place with the help of Antonio Ferreira da Silva) on 'fragments and documents' regarding the early days of the Oratory before and after Don Bosco had been able to set up at Valdocco.
Some bits and pieces of these documents already existed in English translation - the Lenti seven volume series had one or two, and the Rattazzi-Bosco conversation existed in digested form (as translated by Fr Pat Laws some years back but not, it turns out, the complete document).
So what do we have here? The preface to Don Bosco's Church History (1845), along with a review that appeared at the time of publication; DB's letter to Michael B. Cavour asking for permission to transfer to Valdocco - and Cavour's positive response; a letter to a local newspaper indicating some early positive reactions to the new Oratory; the introductory part to the Companion of Youth (1847 edition); preface to DB's Bible History (1847) and as adjusted (the preface) in the 1853 edition; a review of the Bible History; an 1849 article in the Catholic paper, L'Armonia, on the Oratory; and a similar article in Il Conciliatore Torinese - of particular interest is the fact that this article was written in 1849 by a certain Lorenzo Gastaldi when he was a newspaper editor - it wasn't until 1871 that he became Archbishop of Turin! In the same newspaper and the same year (so same author?) a review of DB's work on the metric system 'made simple'; again in 1849 an article on the Oratory in a teachers' journal; the letter DB wrote to King Victor Emmanuel seeking financial aid (which he received), and a report from the Treasurer General of the Realm backing the petition; DB's (and other petitioners') appeal to the Royal Institute for the Education of the Destitute for funds; a report (favourable) on Don Bosco's appeal for public (government) funds, along with other petitioners; Don Bosco's request to run his first lottery where he boldly asks a city authority not only to give permission but to throw in some items as prizes; the conversation with Urban Rattazzi.
It makes a fine collection of primary sources to have access to, along with the detailed footnotes and line-by-line commentaries on certain documents.
The pages, which are now in fact added to the earlier translated 'introduction' by Braido to his Don Bosco, Educatore, mean that about a quarter of this long and detailed work is now in English.
Just a technical note: you should take the pdf version if you want all the footnotes and line-numbering. The extracted text-only version will not give you those details.
If for any reason you cannot access the hyperlink above, just got to SDL, English collection and look for Braido under 'Creator'.
The beginnings of the Oratory: Fragments and documents
VALDOCCO: 25 October 2012 -- While it is all part of an ongoing translation process regarded as absolutely essential in this period when we are approaching the Bicentenary of Don Bosco's birth, the pages you can now have access to in English can, in some ways, stand alone as a valuable collection put into English for the first time.
We are talking about Part 1 of Braido's Don Bosco the Educator, where he collects and comments (in one place with the help of Antonio Ferreira da Silva) on 'fragments and documents' regarding the early days of the Oratory before and after Don Bosco had been able to set up at Valdocco.
Some bits and pieces of these documents already existed in English translation - the Lenti seven volume series had one or two, and the Rattazzi-Bosco conversation existed in digested form (as translated by Fr Pat Laws some years back but not, it turns out, the complete document).
So what do we have here? The preface to Don Bosco's Church History (1845), along with a review that appeared at the time of publication; DB's letter to Michael B. Cavour asking for permission to transfer to Valdocco - and Cavour's positive response; a letter to a local newspaper indicating some early positive reactions to the new Oratory; the introductory part to the Companion of Youth (1847 edition); preface to DB's Bible History (1847) and as adjusted (the preface) in the 1853 edition; a review of the Bible History; an 1849 article in the Catholic paper, L'Armonia, on the Oratory; and a similar article in Il Conciliatore Torinese - of particular interest is the fact that this article was written in 1849 by a certain Lorenzo Gastaldi when he was a newspaper editor - it wasn't until 1871 that he became Archbishop of Turin! In the same newspaper and the same year (so same author?) a review of DB's work on the metric system 'made simple'; again in 1849 an article on the Oratory in a teachers' journal; the letter DB wrote to King Victor Emmanuel seeking financial aid (which he received), and a report from the Treasurer General of the Realm backing the petition; DB's (and other petitioners') appeal to the Royal Institute for the Education of the Destitute for funds; a report (favourable) on Don Bosco's appeal for public (government) funds, along with other petitioners; Don Bosco's request to run his first lottery where he boldly asks a city authority not only to give permission but to throw in some items as prizes; the conversation with Urban Rattazzi.
It makes a fine collection of primary sources to have access to, along with the detailed footnotes and line-by-line commentaries on certain documents.
The pages, which are now in fact added to the earlier translated 'introduction' by Braido to his Don Bosco, Educatore, mean that about a quarter of this long and detailed work is now in English.
Just a technical note: you should take the pdf version if you want all the footnotes and line-numbering. The extracted text-only version will not give you those details.
If for any reason you cannot access the hyperlink above, just got to SDL, English collection and look for Braido under 'Creator'.
