austraLasia #3154
ROME: 2 November 2012 -- It will be of interest for many readers to know that Part II of Peter Braido's 'Don Bosco the Educator' is now available for perusal or download in English. This gives English-speaking readers who have not had the opportunity to access a number of very important primary documents (perhaps because they have limited knowledge of Italian) to read them, plus the critical apparatus which comments on them, in their entirety for the first time
The documents involved cover the period 1854-1862, a time when the incipient Oraotry and attached Home were growing at an outstanding rate, along with at least two other oratories strategically placed around the city (Porta Nuova and Vanchiglia).
The documents produced here in English in full, along with critical comment are as follows: Introduction to the Draft Regulations for the Oratory, the Historical Outline (Cenno storico) of the development of the oratories from 1841 to 1854, the later Historical Outlines (Cenni storici). These three show a Don Bosco who is still very much the diocesan priest in Turin. The Cenno storico, most of which had been translated already by Fr Lenti, has here been included in its complete and, as Braido indicated, 'original' version - but where he reconstructs this version using later corrections and annotations introduced by Don Bosco as his 'scribes' made copies or offered suggestions.
A second set of documents of the narrative kind include Don Bosco's History of Italy written for young people, and various reviews of this. The reviews were written in a particular journalistic style which would be very hard to understand if translated literally, so the translator has chosen to 'modernise' this style somewhat - but hopefully not losing the rather convoluted argument that Niccolò Tommaseo wanted to pursue - while 'commenting' on Don Bosco's work, he also wanted to philosophise on what historical writers should really be doing! He obviously came under some criticism for his effort, since he feels obliged to add a rejoinder!
Then there is a circular for a lottery written by 'The Commission', but we assume that DB had a strong hand in its composition, and the Catholic newspaper, L'Armonia's comments on what a feast day at the Oratory was like.
Finally you have a section of the introduction Don Bosco wrote to the first draft of the Salesian Constitutions as far back as 1858.
ROME: 2 November 2012 -- It will be of interest for many readers to know that Part II of Peter Braido's 'Don Bosco the Educator' is now available for perusal or download in English. This gives English-speaking readers who have not had the opportunity to access a number of very important primary documents (perhaps because they have limited knowledge of Italian) to read them, plus the critical apparatus which comments on them, in their entirety for the first time
The documents involved cover the period 1854-1862, a time when the incipient Oraotry and attached Home were growing at an outstanding rate, along with at least two other oratories strategically placed around the city (Porta Nuova and Vanchiglia).
The documents produced here in English in full, along with critical comment are as follows: Introduction to the Draft Regulations for the Oratory, the Historical Outline (Cenno storico) of the development of the oratories from 1841 to 1854, the later Historical Outlines (Cenni storici). These three show a Don Bosco who is still very much the diocesan priest in Turin. The Cenno storico, most of which had been translated already by Fr Lenti, has here been included in its complete and, as Braido indicated, 'original' version - but where he reconstructs this version using later corrections and annotations introduced by Don Bosco as his 'scribes' made copies or offered suggestions.
A second set of documents of the narrative kind include Don Bosco's History of Italy written for young people, and various reviews of this. The reviews were written in a particular journalistic style which would be very hard to understand if translated literally, so the translator has chosen to 'modernise' this style somewhat - but hopefully not losing the rather convoluted argument that Niccolò Tommaseo wanted to pursue - while 'commenting' on Don Bosco's work, he also wanted to philosophise on what historical writers should really be doing! He obviously came under some criticism for his effort, since he feels obliged to add a rejoinder!
Then there is a circular for a lottery written by 'The Commission', but we assume that DB had a strong hand in its composition, and the Catholic newspaper, L'Armonia's comments on what a feast day at the Oratory was like.
Finally you have a section of the introduction Don Bosco wrote to the first draft of the Salesian Constitutions as far back as 1858.
