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    04/07/2024
    Oration by Frederick Douglass Delivered on the Occasion of the Unveiling of the Freedmen's Monument, April 14, 1876 cover

    Oration by Frederick Douglass Delivered on the Occasion of the Unveiling of the Freedmen’s Monument, April 14, 1876

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    This is the speech given by Fredrick Douglass at the unveiling of the Freedmen’s Monument in Lincoln Park, Washington DC, April 14, 1876 along with the appendix which includes additional information about the order of the events and the story of the beginning of the collection of funds. – Summary by Edward Graham V     [chương_files]  

    04/07/2024
    Your United States: Impressions Of A First Visit cover

    Your United States: Impressions Of A First Visit

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    Enoch Arnold Bennett (1867 – 1931) was an English writer. He is best known as a novelist, but he also worked in other fields such as journalism, propaganda and film. In 1911 Bennett paid a financially rewarding visit to the US, which he later recorded in this 1912 book Those United States in England; titled Your United States in America. He is a keen observer with an entertaining dry wit.- Summary by David Wales     [chương_files]  

    04/07/2024
    Letters of Oscar Wilde, Volume 1 (1868-1890) cover

    Letters of Oscar Wilde, Volume 1 (1868-1890)

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    This first collection of the correspondence of Oscar Wilde begins with the Irish playwright’s earliest extant letter, thanking his mother for the hamper she had sent to him at school. It includes letters about his travels in Italy, his American lecture tour, the staging of his first play (Vera, or the Nihilists), arrangements for the publication of a friend’s poetry collection, and exchanges in the press with artist James McNeill Whistler. The letters, some of which have been excerpted or redacted, are sourced from auction catalogues, newspapers, biographies, and other texts in the public domain. For a complete collection of Wilde’s letters, please see “The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde,” (2000) edited by Merlin Holland and Rupert Hart-Davis. – Summary by Rob Marland     [chương_files]  

    04/07/2024
    Theory of the Theatre, and Other Principles of Dramatic Criticism cover

    Theory of the Theatre, and Other Principles of Dramatic Criticism

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    A collection of essays by American critic Clayton Hamilton concerning theatre & dramatic practices, and the criticism thereof, from an early 20th century perspective. – Summary by Andrew Gaunce     [chương_files]  

    04/07/2024
    Letters of Oscar Wilde, Volume 2 (1890-1895) cover

    Letters of Oscar Wilde, Volume 2 (1890-1895)

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    This second collection of the correspondence of Oscar Wilde includes letters written when the Irish playwright was at the height of his success. Wilde defends several of his works from criticism and even censorship, and writes “prose poems” to his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, that will eventually be read out in court. The letters, some of which have been excerpted or redacted, are sourced from auction catalogues, newspapers, biographies, and other texts in the public domain. For a complete collection of Wilde’s letters, please see “The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde,” (2000) edited by Merlin Holland and Rupert Hart-Davis. – Summary by Rob Marland     [chương_files]  

    03/07/2024
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    Unicorns

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    An engaging collection of essays about artists, composers, writers, and, of course, unicorns. – Summary by Stav Nisser     [chương_files]  

    03/07/2024
    Hearts of Controversy cover

    Hearts of Controversy

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    Alice Meynell was an English essayist, critic, and poet who was also a leading suffragist, serving as vice-president of the Women Writers’ Suffrage League, She and her husband Wilfrid Meynell were active in publishing and editing literary works including helping to launch the first works of Francis Thompson, author of “Hound of Heaven.” The Meynell’s later converted to Roman Catholicism. In this volume, In this volume Meynell offers her impressions on some of the best known literary figures of her day including Charles Dickens, Tennyson.and the Bronte sisters. – Summary by Larry Wilson     [chương_files]  

    03/07/2024
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    Europe and Elsewhere

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    This collection of articles came from Mark Twain’s travels and experiences abroad. While many had been previously published, there also were many that had never before seen the light of day…which one reviewer said had never been Twain’s intent for them, having consigned them to obscurity. With introductory essays by Brander Matthews and Albert Bigelow Paine, the book paints a clear picture of the complexity and wide variety of Samuel L. Clemens’ thinking, where it originated and how it developed.     [chương_files]  

    03/07/2024
    Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 076 cover

    Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 076

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    Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. “Our constitution is color-blind… the law regards man as man and takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights…are involved.” Justice Harlan’s eloquent defense of equal rights for Black citizens in his 1866 dissent to Plessy v. Ferguson is one of several Vol. 076 selections which explore social issues and politics: John Adams; Gettysburg Address; Civil Rights Bill (1866); First Philippic of Demosthenes; Manifesto of the Humanitarian League; and Acadian Reminiscences. The multitudinal dimensions of human diversity are displayed in other selections: On Leveling from Amiel’s Journal; Sufism; The Discovery of Witches; The Cruise of the Wasp; Nanook of the North; Fossil Hunting in the Permian of Texas; The Nation’s Capital: What to See; Underground London; Poisons Used by Ancient Races; Genetically Engineered Crops; and Recipes for Ice Creams and Ices. Summary by Sue Anderson.     [chương_files]  

    03/07/2024
    Moments With Mark Twain cover

    Moments With Mark Twain

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    These selections from the works of Mark Twain are presented in chronological order. They include the memorable whitewashing of the fence in “Tom Sawyer”, events preceding the Mississippi River raft journey in “Huckleberry Finn”, a dark moment during the exchange of identities in “The Prince and the Pauper”, and reflections of “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court”. A critic wrote of another excerpt concerning a feud, “…as dramatic and powerful an episode as I know in modern literature.” Also included are comments about travel abroad, Joan of Arc, a generous helping of Twain’s renowned quips, and mortality. (Lee Smalley)     [chương_files]