author
W. L. (Walter Lionel) Paine
d. 1915
A gifted Latin teacher and textbook writer, he helped shape a more lively way of teaching classical languages in the early 1900s. His best-known work, co-written with Cyril Lyttelton Mainwaring, outlived him and remained a useful classroom text after his death in World War I.
1 Audiobook
Primus Annus
by W. L. (Walter Lionel) Paine, Cyril Lyttleton Mainwaring
About the author
Born in 1881, Walter Lionel Paine was educated at Oundle, where he became captain of the school, and later at New College, Oxford. He went on to teach classics at Merchant Taylors' School and became known for his work in Latin teaching.
Paine was closely involved with the movement to reform how Latin was taught, serving as secretary of the Association for the Reform of Latin Teaching. He is best remembered as the co-author of Primus Annus with Cyril Lyttelton Mainwaring, a beginner's Latin book first published in 1912 and still noted today as an example of the direct method in language instruction.
His life was cut short during the First World War. A captain in the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment, he died on June 4, 1915, at age 34.