Showing results by author "ciesse" in All Categories

"The Morning Dawn, Bar Harbor, Maine: a Very Comprehensive Poem Illustrating and Describing the Scenic Beauty of the United States; Lafayette National Park, the Queen of Resorts" , is the complete title of this charming little book about Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park. Lafayette National Park was designated by the U.S. Congress in 1919 and was the first National Park in the Eastern United States. It was renamed to Acadia National Park in 1929. - Summary by Nemo

A collection of 10 out of the 12 Encyclicals written by Pope Benedict XV, who was Pope from 1914-1922. Public domain English translations of 'In Hac Tanta' and 'Principi Apostolorum Petro' were not able to be located for this collection. (Summary by Maria Therese)

An review essay of "Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay". The Edinburgh Review, January, 1843. Reprinted in vol. iii of Macaulay's Critical and Historical Essays. "Hundreds of remarkable persons had passed in review before her....The account which she has given of the King's [George III] illness contains much excellent narrative and description, and will, we think, be as much valued by the historians of a future age as any equal portion of Pepys's or Evelyn's Diaries..." Her novels were "the precursors" of those of Jane Austen. - Summary by barbara2

The Letters of a Portuguese Nun (Les Lettres Portugaises) were first published anonymously in Paris in 1669. The five passionate letters in book form were a publishing sensation since their appearance, with five editions in the first year, followed by more than forty editions throughout the 17th century. A Cologne edition of 1669 stated that the Marquis de Chamilly was their addressee, but, aside from the fact that she was female, the author's name and identity remained unknown. The letters were translated in several languages, and set a precedent for sentimentalism in European culture at ...

Pope Leo XIII (2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903), born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, reigned from 20 February 1878 to his death in 1903. He was the oldest pope (reigning until the age of 93), and had the third longest pontificate.He is well known for his intellectualism, the development of social teachings with his famous papal encyclical Rerum Novarum and his attempts to define the position of the Catholic Church with regard to modern thinking. He issued a record eleven encyclicals on the rosary earning the moniker the "Rosary Pope". This book includes ...

LibriVox volunteers bring you 14 recordings of Summer Evening by John Clare. This was the weekly poetry project for July 26th, 2009.

A collection of the letters which Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy wrote while in Italy and Switzerland. Mendelssohn, a multifaceted talent of the Romantic era, composed a diverse array of works, including symphonies, concertos, piano music, and chamber pieces. (Summary by Mozartjr)

Letters from a Cat: published by her mistress for the benefit of all cats and the amusement of little children is a collection of letters that a little girl receives from her pet while she is away from home. They tell of her pet’s adventures and misadventures. The book includes a preface which gives a little biography of the cat including its sad demise.H.H. was the alias of Helen Maria Hunt Jackson (1830 –1885) who is better known for her novel Ramona in which she dramatized the mistreatment of Native Americans and which formed part of her campaign for improved treatment of Native ...

LibriVox volunteers bring you 15 recordings of "Sonnet on a Wet Summer" by John Codrington Bampfield. This was the weekly poem for the week of July 1, 2012.

LibriVox volunteers bring you 15 recordings of Morning Work by D. H. Lawrence.This was the Weekly Poetry project for August 15, 2021. ------This Weekly poem is taken from Love Poems and Others by D. H. Lawrence (1913)(Summary by David Lawrence )

"[Rupert Brooke] started in May 1913 on a journey to the United States, Canada, and the South Seas, from which he returned next year at the beginning of June. The first thirteen chapters of this book were written as letters to the Westminster Gazette. He would probably not have republished them in their present form, as he intended to write a longer book on his travels; but they are now printed with only the correction of a few evident slips." The listener interested in Brooke's work may want to skip over Henry James' "so affectionate and desperately unintelligible a preface" (Christopher ...

Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania is a series of essays written by the Pennsylvania lawyer and legislator John Dickinson (1732–1808) and published under the name "A Farmer" from 1767 to 1768. The twelve letters were widely read and reprinted throughout the thirteen colonies and were important in uniting the colonists against the Townshend Acts. (Wikipedia)

“THE FARTHER ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE; Being the Second and Last Part OF HIS LIFE, And of the Strange Surprizing Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe.” After the death of his wife, Robinson Crusoe is overcome by the old wanderlust, and sets out with his faithful companion Friday to see his island once again. Thus begins a journey which will last ten years and nine months, in which Crusoe travels over the world, along the way facing dangers and discoveries in Madagascar, China, and Siberia. (Summary by D. Leeson)

Humphrey Scriven is a fine, genial, mercantile man, left widowed to raise three daughters and a son. Two of the daughters marry well although happiness is not enduring. The other defers her marriage, knowing her father disapproves of her choice. The son is a disappointment to his father -- his character is not as generous or kind. However, in time, this son inherits the business, with the exception of a portion left to a trusted clerk, Mr. Hayley. But there is a secret side to Mr. Hayley and maybe he is not quite the right man to guide the novice merchant. The two part ways acrimoniously and ...

Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903) wrote eighty-eight Encyclicals during his twenty-five year pontificate (1878-1903). Fifty-six of those are included in this collection.Among the topics covered are the Rosary, socialism, Christian marriage, labour, freemasonry, Church and state, human liberty, dueling, the Holy Eucharist, and more. (Summary by Maria Therese)

"Letters from Hell" is a didactic Christian fantasy novel, with a faint resemblance to C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters." Otto, the narrator, has died in the prime of life. Through letters, he relates the torments and regrets that are a consequence of the self-centered and dissipated life he led in the world. He also describes the fates of other lost souls who inhabit Hell. (In this work, Hell is not the place of eternal torment, but the "holding area" until the final judgment.)There is also a preface written by George MacDonald. - Summary by TriciaG

The Gambler is a short novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky about a young tutor in the employment of a formerly wealthy Russian general. The novella reflects Dostoevsky's own addiction to roulette, which was in more ways than one the inspiration for the book: Dostoevsky completed the novella under a strict deadline so he could pay off gambling debts. (Summary from Wikipedia)

These are selections of Kipling's writings; some poems, some fiction, some history but all by the master storyteller himself. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi' -- William the Conqueror, Part I -- William the Conqueror, Part II -- Wee Willie Winkie -- A matter of fact -- Mowgli's brothers -- The lost legion -- Namgay Doola -- A germ-destroyer -- 'Tiger! Tiger!' -- Tods' amendment -- The story of Muhammad Din -- The finances of the gods -- Moti Guj, Mutineer. - Summary by Phil chenevert

The Old Testament, translated by an American committee lead by S.H. Hooke, using Basic English, a simplified English vernacular developed by linguist Charles Kay Ogden for use in teaching English to non-native speakers and as an international auxiliary language. Basic English utilizes a limited vocabulary of around 850 English words. - Summary by Mark Penfold

Genesis is the story of the Creation and the people that followed it. The place is Canaan which is the land of Israel and the adjoining nations. The Book discusses the complex relationship between God and Mankind and portrays the travails of one particular family, the family of Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.The book is priceless in its description of the custom of the day and the interaction within the family, tribe and Nation. But most of all the beauty of Genesis lies in the description of human behavior from its petty jealousies through unrelenting commitment for a worthy cause and love ...