Twenty short nonfiction works in the public domain. “The Regulation of Time” and “Uniform Standard Time” are two of several readings which touch on social regulation, societal norms, and individual expression. Others examine dancing mania (“Choreomania”); gender conformity (“A Mormon Strategy”); race laws (“Black Code of Illinois”); etiquette and social class (“Housekeeping at the White House (1903)”; “Opportunity” (a view by Ambrose Bierce); organized religion (“The Church in Liverpool in the Early 1800s”); oratory and persuasion (“Pliny to Cerealis” and “The Martians”); legal protection for original ideas (“Copyright for a banana costume”); and an exhortation to judge men by their deeds, not their names (“First Apology of Justin Martyr”). Music and books are celebrated in “Fidelio;” “The Function of a National Library;” “Books in the Wilderness;” and Oscar Wilde’s “To Read or Not to Read.” Natural science is represented by “Coral and Coral Reefs” and “Making a Rock Garden.” Finally, a fateful communique is examined in the “Zimmermann Telegram.” Summary by Sue Anderson Pliny to Cerealis: Letter XXIV was translated by William Melmoth     [chương_files]  

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. Two U.S. Presidents are remembered in “A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison” and Washington’s “Address to Congress on Resigning His Commission (1783).” Other topics in history and political theory include two of George W. Ball’s memos about the Vietnam War from 1965, “Irish Marriage Rites,” “Celts and Celtophiles,” Kropotkin on “Anarchism in Socialistic Evolution,” a tragedy at sea (“The Titanic”), and a look back at “The Passing of the Sailing Ship.” Religion and philosophy are represented with two selections from Kierkegaard’s “Preparation for a Christian Life” and a sermon by Spurgeon (“Glorious Predestination”). Biographies pay homage to the mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan. How-to and guidance readings include farming advice from George Washington Carver (“Help for Hard Times”), “Teaching Mathematics with Paper Folding,” “Sexual Neuroses,” and “Elementary Lessons in Cookery.” “The Common Milkweed” celebrates one of summer’s roadside flowers. Finally Richard de Bury pens a tribute to books in a selection from the Philobiblon, written in 1345. Summary by Sue Anderson Selections from Kierkegaard were translated by Lee M. Hollander That the Treasure of Wisdom is Chiefly Contained in Books was translated by E.C. Thomas     [chương_files]  

Twenty short nonfiction works chosen by the readers. “Why Women Should Vote” (Jane Addams, 1910) is one of several selections devoted to women’s interests, as are Martha Foote Crow’s “The Young Woman on the Farm” (1910), Alice Freeman Palmer’s “Three Rules for Happiness,” and Myrtle Reed’s recipes for “Coffee Cakes, Doughnuts, and Waffles.” Tradition and belief are treated in two selections from Kierkegaard, a letter from Japan (“When the Dead Return”), a creation myth (“Sky Weds Earth”), and an essay by Mark Twain on “Mental Telegraphy.” Topics in history and political theory include “The Original Draft of the Declaration of Independence,” “An Audience with Abraham Lincoln,” “Government” (Bastiat), “Constitutional Law” (Bentham), “War Scenes Across the Canadian Border ” (1915), “Americans Lose Men in Fight in Siberia” (1919) and “Quentin Roosevelt’s Last Letter Home” (1918). Sport receives its due with a history of the bicycle, while “In the Land of the Wild Yak” portrays the hardships endured by 19th century explorer Sven Hedin. Finally, “Mr. NAMIKAWA Yasuyuki’s Cloisonné” celebrates the life of a Japanese artist and his exquisite enamel work. – Summary by Sue Anderson     [chương_files]  

Sixteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Volume 59 contains an eclectic mix of readings, ranging from a description of a Coney Island elephant colossus to meditations on mental telepathy and baseball. Philosophical essays by Leibniz, Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Francis Bacon and William Blake touch on the topics of truth, prejudice, poetic genius, suicide, and preparation for a Christian life. An educator at a women’s college in the early 1920’s bemoans the decline in the way high school girls dress for school and recommends a “serge jumper dress, made with a washable under blouse.” In the same span of years, a female reporter, going undercover to research conditions in the Detroit House of Corrections has herself arrested and is “stripped to the skin and searched for narcotics” and then made to don prison garb: “a faded gingham coverall, prison-made and drab.” A medical doctor, writing in the 1870’s, examines the connection between clean living and longevity, while a historian discusses how slave labor was employed in the salines of Southern Illinois. Native American Indian speech patterns are explored in an essay on the evolution of language, while a a chapter from a children’s science book explains what happens “when the dew falls.” Lastly, a spirited defense of the Bodleian as a research institution rather than a circulating library rounds out this volume of the nonfiction collection. Preparation for a Christian Life III was translated by Lee M. Hollander.     [chương_files]  

Fifteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Natural cataclysm is the subject of several readings: the 1899 Alaskan earthquake, which uplifted cliffs at Yakutat Bay 47 feet; a terrifying forest fire in Northern Wisconsin in 1899; the fiery sunsets which followed the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 1883; a storm at sea which sank the English frigate Anson in 1807; and the explosion of a hydrogen-filled dirigible over Chicago in 1919. Natural beauty, also a topic, includes a guide to the Antrim coast of Ireland, observations on Black Walnut trees and the communal life of Yellow-Jacket wasps, and an essay on how to paint reflections. Two colloquies of Erasmus explore a young woman’s choice to become a nun and the “preposterous judgments” of people who value the names of things more than the Things themselves. Progress–envisioned as the age of electricity; changes in burglary; and Nostradamus’ prognostications for the future round out the volume. -summary by Sue Anderson Elizabeth G. Peckham was the co-author of “Communal Life of Yellow-Jacket Wasps” Fifty Quatrains of Nostradamus was translated by Theophilus de Garencières     [chương_files]  

Sixteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include Science and Exploration–a tribute to Egyptologist Amelia Edwards, and discourses on gravitation and relativity by Georges-Louis Le Sage and Ralph Sampson; Sociology and Society–Julio Guerrero on the Mexican character, reflections on life from Kierkegaard’s Diapsalmata, Immanuel Kant on religious education, the fate of romance in the King of Siam’s harem, nickelodeons, and the tragic results of an 1851 fire on small businesses in New York’s Bowery; Nature–how weeds spread, animal coloration, and mountaineering in the Rockies; as well as a biography of Buster Keaton, and a treatise on British hat making in the age of Top Hats with styles named the Bang-Up and the Vis-a-Vis. (summary by Sue Anderson)     [chương_files]  

Seventeen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include Nature and Science–fall scenery, rose oil, large type books for low vision, the pulmotor, and the method of scientific investigation; Philosophy and Thought–Joseph Priestly, Kierkegaard, Rousseau, and A.C. Bradley on poetry; History and Travel–John Johnston founder of Sault St. Marie, eating in Berlin, and Sir John Mandeville’s travels; a Japanese folk tale; a defense of Lady Bryon by Harriet Beecher Stowe, and a Virginia slave narrative by Minnie Fulkes. (Summary by Sue Anderson) “Preparation for a Christian Life” was translated by Lee M. Hollander.     [chương_files]  

Eighteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include philosophy and thought — Plato, Aristotle, Leonhard Euler, Henri Amiel, and the French Rights of Man; adventure and mystery — the ascent of Aconcagua and the mystery ship Mary Celeste; science — a new comet and lichen dyes; portraits of the seasons by Lucy Maud Montgomery: biographies of Charles Dickens and Clara and Robert Schuman; a history of the Transcendental utopia Fruitlands by Louisa May Alcott, and an essay on reading by Isaac Disraeli. summary by Sue Anderson     [chương_files]  

Nineteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include wives, widows, and women scorned–the “Baby Doe Tabor” scandal, the trials of literary marriages, and colonial women; history–Wounded Knee, the Underground Railroad, Edward Bellamy’s “nationalism,” and English railroads; inspiring places–the Alhambra and Squaw Rock; invention–the marine chronometer; and essays on the Constitution, the natural equality of men, old age, the consolation of reading, and on the fantastic imagination. (Summary by Sue Anderson) The Art of Dying by August Strindberg was translated by Claud Field. The Natural Equality of Men to be Acknowledged by Samuel Pufendorf was translated by Andrew Tooke.     [chương_files]