From Latin, parvum opus translates literally to "a little work". As a matter of degree, parvum opus may be considered the opposite extreme of magnum opus.
In the Introduction of later editions of Strunk and Whites The Elements of Style, E.B. White refers to William Strunk Jr.'s first edition as his parvum opus in that it represents an attempt to "cut the vast tangle of English rhetoric down to size and write its rules and principles" in concise form. In parallel, Strunk taught English 8 in 1919 at Cornell University, where The Elements of Style was referred to as 'the little book'.<ref name="ElementsStyle"/>
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