Oxford Orations

The University Orator's job is to create formal presentations, in Latin, to mark historic moments in academic life or, most commonly, to present the honorary degrees which Oxford periodically awards to leading international figures. The distinguished Classical scholar Godfrey Bond, who held the post of Orator between 1980 and 1992, was a master at creating concise biographical portraits in clear, beautifully-constructed Latin. This book contains a collection of his addresses to famous figures, including Kiri te Kanawa, Cardinal Basil Hume, King Juan Carlos of Spain, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Prince Naruhito of Japan, Joseph Brodsky and Sir Vidia Naipaul. In all of these elegant orations, the charm and the wit of the man who translated jumbo jets as balanenae ballistariae (`catapulted whales') shines through.