PREFACE
The present version of the Didactica Magna is a close paraphrase from the original Latin in the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh. The Introductions are based upon original research and on the best German authorities. They embody a fuller account of Comenius’ life and works than has hitherto been accessible to the English reader; while a part of their contents is, I believe, a fresh contribution to the biography and the historical environment of the great School Reformer.
The portrait is a reproduction of the frontispiece to Hartlib’s A Reformation of Schooles, published in 1642.
My best thanks are due to my friend and colleague, Dr. J. S. Mackay, who read over a large portion of the work in manuscript, and gave me valuable assistance on many points.
The Edinburgh Academy,
February 1896.
