Crocus

Cornelius Crocus (c. 1500-1550) was a Dutch humanist and schoolmaster in Amsterdam. From 1517-1521 he was educated at the Collegium Trilingue by Hadrianus Barlandus and Alardus Amstelredamus. St. John Fisher instituted him in the Minor Orders. He was an instructor in and around Amsterdam for decades, writing various works in defense of Catholic teaching and for Catholic education. In 1549 after the death of his mother, he set out on foot to join the Jesuit order in Rome, dying from the journey in 1550. He is known for his polemical works, his play Ioseph, and his school works. This book, published first in 1534, has been interpreted as a pro-Catholic replacement for Erasmus. We've used a 1544 reprinting. See also Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Wikipedia, and the Bodleian.

COLLOQUIŌRUM PUERĪLIUM FŌRMULAE EX optimīs quibusque authōribus coāctae per Cornēlium Crocum.
Iam postrēmum recognitae & auctae.
Omnia fert Aetās.
Nihil opertum quod nōn revēlābitur.
οὐδὲν ἐστι κεκαλυμμένον ὃ οὐκ ἀποκαλυφθήσεται. TEMPUS. ANTVERPIAE.
Apud Michaēlem Hillēnium, in Rapō. Annō M. D. XLIIII.

C. AEMSTERODAMUS D. NICOLAŌ CANNIŌ Aemsterō, Virginum Ursulēnsium praefectō vigilantissimō S. D.

Quum in confessō sit ērudītissime idemque amīcissime Nicolāe, puerīs loquendī ratiōnem nōn aliō pactō melius cōnstāre quam loquendō, perspicuum est quantum dēbeat adolēscentia doctissimīs aliquot nostrae aetātis virīs, quī novā colloquiōrum scrībendōrum ratiōne, puerōrum hāc in parte studiīs succurrere, hoc est, eōrum causā paulīsper velutī repuerāscere, nōn indecōrum sibi esse arbitrātī sunt. Et hoc magis dēbet quō minus inde laudis & glōriae, quippe ex rē in speciem lūdicrā, plūs omnīnō labōris & molestiae spērārī potuerint, neque enim tam proclīve est latīnē vel nūgārī, quàm persuāsum iīs esse solet, quī perīculum nunquam fēcerint. Sed quum nec hāc viā satis prōfectum vidērem, & complūreīs esse scholās, eāsque exterīs etiam discipulīs frequentēs, in quibus rārus aut nūllus vel inter prīmōs latīnē loquerētur, ob id fortasse quod habet vernāculus noster sermō nōn pauca quae ⟦Gr: ἂν πᾶς ὗς⟧, ut dīcitur, sat commodē latīnē queat reddere, factūrum mē esse operaepretium exīstimāvī, sī dēlēctās quāsdam ōrātiunculās, eās potissimum quārum fermè ūsus quotīdiē loquendō incidit, ex optimīs quibusque authōribus congererem, congestās in colloquia quaedam redigerem, eāque typīs excūsa parvō aere legenda exhibērem, nōn quod eō vel temeritātis vel dēmentiae redāctus sim, ut bonārum, ut vocantur & sunt, litterārum studiōsīs satis mē facere posse cōnfīdam. Quanquam ô, sed sit ea quibus à superīs concessa est foelīcitās. Puerīs hic noster dēsūdat labor, neque quod post D. Erasmum Rot. & Hadriānum Barlandum praeceptōrem meum, meliōra dictūrum mē vel optāre ausim, nēdum spērāre, sed fortasse quaedam puerīs paulō accommodātiōra, nē quid iīs hāc in parte dēsīderārī possit, quod ut est in proverbiō, Aquila nōn captat muscās, tametsī nec hic cessat Des. Erasmus. Tē igitur mi Canni potissimum dēlēgī, cui haec dicārem, dicātūrus vel Sibrandō Occōnī, vel Heimānō Ruischōniō, vel Hēricō Coggiō, vel Martīnō Aedituō, quibus magis conveniēbat, utpote adolēscentibus, quibus amīcīsque nostrīs commūnibus & ōrnātissimīs & studiōsissimīs, nisi vīsum esset tuī nōminis lēnōciniō puerīlibus dignitātem vindicāre. Valē Aemsterodamī annō Chrīstiānae salūtis. 1534.