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Thornton Wilder, Letter, 1949, in the Clifton Waller Barrett Library, Accession #9773-l, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
This collection was purchased from Jerry N. Showalter, Bookseller on November 8, 1995.
Wilder, Hamden, Connecticut, writes to Scott, of Wayne State University. He outlines the advantages rendered by a study of Latin as the following: " a) clarifies and disciplines one's own practice in writing English b) makes one more attentive to all writing and its problems c) furnishes an invaluable aid to the study of all languages from the Latin source d) introduces one to the enjoyment of certain masterpieces of literature which always suffers disgrace in translation (Virgil, Horace, Catullus, Cicero)" but expresses doubt in the theory that the mere learning of paradigms is in itself a valuable mental exercise.