Literary Collections : Ancient, Classical & Medieval

Chapter I - JEAN MUIR "Has she come?" "No, Mamma, not yet." "I wish it were well over. The thought of it worries and excites me. A cushion for my back, Bella." And poor, peevish Mrs. Coventry sank into an easy chair with a nervous sigh and the air of a martyr, while her pretty daughter hovered about her with affectionate solicitude. "Who are they talking of, Lucia?" asked the languid young man lounging on a couch near his cousin, who bent over her tapestry work with a happy smile on her usually haughty face. "The new governess, Miss Muir. Shall I tell you about her?" . Intuitive navigation. . Text annotation and mark-up. . more...

Price: $3.99

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Roman scholar Censorinus bestowed upon his best friend a charming birthday present: The Birthday Book, which appears here in its long-awaited first English translation. Laying out everything he knew about birthdays, the book starts simply, but by the conclusion of this brief yet brilliant gem, Censorinus has sketched a glorious vision of a universe ruled by harmony and order, where the microcosm of the child in the womb corresponds to the macrocosm of the planets. Alternately serious and playful, Censorinus touches on music, history, astronomy, astrology, and every aspect of time as it was understood in third-century Rome. He also provides ancient answers to perennial questions: Why does the day begin at midnight? Where did Leap Year come from? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?. Embodying the proverbial gift that keeps on giving, The Birthday Book has long been treasured by scientists, poets, and scholars, and Holt Parker’s graceful and lively new translation—accompanied by an illuminating introduction and detailed notes—is itself a present for Latinists, historians of science, and anyone looking for an unusual birthday gift. more...

Price: $25.00

This is an electronic edition of the complete book complemented by author biography. This booktable of contents linked to every part and chapter. ******************. On a fine evening in the month of September, 1836, a man about thirty years of age was leaning on the parapet of that quay from which a spectator can look up the Seine from the Jardin des Plantes to Notre-Dame, and down, along the vast perspective of the river, to the Louvre. There is not another point of view to compare with it in the capital of ideas. We feel ourselves on the quarter-deck, as it were, of a gigantic vessel. We dream of Paris from the days of the Romans to those of the Franks, from the Normans to the Burgundians, the Middle-Ages, the Valois, Henri IV., Louis XIV., Napoleon, and Louis-Philippe. Vestiges are before us of all those sovereignties, in monuments that recall their memory. The cupola of Sainte-Genevieve towers above the Latin quarter. Behind us rises the noble apsis of the cathedral. The Hotel de Ville tells of revolutions; the Hotel-Dieu, of the miseries of Paris. After gazing at the splendors of the Louvre we can, by taking two steps, look down upon the rags and tatters of that ignoble nest of houses huddling between the quai de la Tournelle and the Hotel-Dieu,--a foul spot, which a modern municipality is endeavoring at the present moment to remove. more...

Price: $3.99

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur''s Court is an 1889 novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The work is a very early example of time travel in literature, anticipating by six years H. G. Wells'' The Time Machine of 1895 (however, unlike Wells, Twain does not give any real explanation of his protagonist''s travelling in time). Some early editions are entitled A Yankee at the Court of King Arthur. — Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Intuitive navigation. . Text annotation and mark-up. . more...

Price: $3.99

Complete interlinked edition complemented by author biography and analysis. "If The Prince resembles a guidebook based primarily on empirical observations, Machiavelli wrote the Discourses as a commentary on Livy''s work on Roman history. However, both books include empirical observations and historical generalizations. Machiavelli himself does not make a sharp distinction between the two methods of inquiry, as he thinks that all ages are fundamentally similar. He thinks we can use both methods to teach ourselves the unchanging laws of the political universe. When we have understood these laws, we can use our understanding in political life to achieve our goals. The book is strictly speaking three books in one. In Book I Machiavelli focuses on the internal structure of the republic. Book II is about matters of warfare. Book III is perhaps most similar to the teachings of The Prince, as it concerns individual leadership. The three books combined provide guidance to those trying to establish or reform a republic." — Excerpted from Discourses on Livy on Wikipedia. BOOK I. PREFACE. I. Of the Beginnings of Cities in general, and in particular of that of Rome. II. Of the various kinds of Government; and to which of them the Roman Commonwealth belonged. III. Of the Accidents which led in Rome to the creation of Tribunes of the People; whereby the Republic was made more perfect. IV. That the Dissensions between the Senate and Commons of Rome, made Rome free and powerful. V. Whether the Guardianship of public Freedom is safer in the hands of the Commons or of the Nobles; and whether those who seek to acquire Power or they who seek to maintain it are the greater cause of Commotions. VI. Whether it was possible in Rome to contrive such a Government as would have composed the Differences between the Commons and the Senate. VII. That to preserve Liberty in a State there must exist the Right to accuse. VIII. That Calumny is as hurtful in a Commonwealth as the po more...

Price: $3.99