October 09, 2005

A History of the Civil War from 1865--Almost a Primary Source

The history of the civil war in the United States: its cause, origin, progress and conclusion. Containing full, impartial and graphic descriptions of the various military and naval engagements, with the heroic deeds achieved by armies and individuals, touching scenes and incidents in the camp, the cabin, the field and the hospital. And biographical sketches of its heroes. By Samuel M. Schumucker. Rev. and completed by Dr. L. P. Brockett. Illustrated with over one hundred and fifty fine portraits of generals, battle scenes, maps and diagrams.

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Moliere's Last Play

The Imaginary Invalid

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Robert Browning: A Poet Worth Knowing

Robert Browning: How to Know Him

A combination critical appreciation, biography and anthology of some of Brownings very best work. By far the most difficult of the Victorians, and likely one of the most difficult poets ever, Browning is a poet who has a surface smoothness that overlays enormous depths. He repays close reading many times over, and, at its best, his poetry is absolutely gorgeous.

One has only to glance at the printed page of _My Last Duchess_, and see how few of the lines end in punctuation points, to discover the method employed when a poet wishes to write a very strict measure in a very free manner.

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The California Missions

The Penance of Magdalena and Other Tales of the California Missions

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A Biography of St. Augustine

St. Augustin

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October 06, 2005

Anna's Story

Project Gutenberg Edition of The English Governess at the Siamese Court: Being Recollections of Six Years in the Royal Palace at Bangkok

The memoirs of the governess of the children of the King of Siam.

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October 05, 2005

Guides On-Line

Research Materials (By Era)

Among other things you'll find at this site at self-guided tours to a number of different battlefields. I note New Market, Second Manassas, Ball's Bluff, and Cedar Creek, in particular.

Not my cup of tea, but I suspect there are those who would appreciate these things. (Far more detail than any other than the die-hard fan can easily endure.)

Sample from second Manassas:

0300, King's Division may have withdrawn down Pageland Lane toward Manassas. And on the same day, between 0300 and 1000, Early's and Forno's Brigades of Lawton's Division moved into the fields northwest of the intersection about sunrise. The 13th and 31st Virginia were advanced as pickets just east of Stuart Hill on the other side of the nursery. Early was protecting Jackson's flank while looking for Longstreet. His men skirmished with the Pennsylvania Bucktails of Reynolds' Division.

During 1000 to 1200, Longstreet's Corps arrived from Thoroughfare Gap. He immediately placed Hood's Division in this area:
On approaching the field some of Brigadier General Hood's batteries were ordered into 9 position and his division was deployed on the right and left of the turnpike at right angles with it, and supported by . . . Evans' Brigade.
Reilly's Battery (Rowan Artillery) went into position on the ridge east of the nursery (Stuart Hill).

Wilcox's Division went into line on Hood's left (north).

Kemper's Division deployed south of Hood to the Manassas Gap Railroad Line.

D. R. Jones' Division moved down Pageland Lane to the south opposite Dawkin's Branch on the Manassas-Gainesville Road.

Then on 29 August at 1200 Lee established his headquarters on Stuart Hill (known as Munroe's Hill in 1862), just south of the turnpike.

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September 30, 2005

For Fans of Thomas á Kempis

The Chronicle of the Canons Regular of Mount St. Agnes

Not a work that I am familiar with. I'll have to spend a weekend or so with it.

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Science Fiction Studies:Full Texts of Sold-Out Back Issues

For those who take their Science Fiction somewhat more seriously.

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Washington Irving

Making of America Books

Page images of the 1861 Edition of the Collected Works of Washington Irving. Includes his biography of George Washington, his study of the Alhambra and of Islam, and the Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, etc.

Nice place to start thinking about the season--"Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is always a nice seasonal treat.

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Now Available

Story of a Soul

It's not the definitive ICS, and it is from the 1922 redaction known to have been modified for the sake of the living by her sister. Nevertheless, if you need something quick, easy, on-line, and in public domain, here's your text. The words that remain are those of St. Therese. Much of her sister Pauline's editing was merely deletion of personal references and remarks she thought inappropriate. (Thus leading those who have not read the definitive version to think of St. Therese as a little saccharine and a little over-pious. Her sister Pauline was a great fan and a tremendous spin-doctor in the short run, but may have done her damage in the long-run.

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September 28, 2005

Podcasts for Christ

Against a dictatorship of relativism

Look at the supercool array of Podcasts found by Mr. Thakur. Thank you sir.

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September 27, 2005

The Spoken Word Archive

Browse Top Level > Audio > Open Source Audio > Spoken Word

At Open Source Audio--A number of readily available books--and thanks to the efforts and contributions of volunteers such as Maria Lectrix noted below, this will only increase. This is the greatest find (for me) since Distributed Proofreaders.

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September 24, 2005

Another Key Text in "Japanese Literature"

Kokoro

I honestly don't even know how to describe and typify this work. It isn't Japanese because it is by Lafacadio Hearn, a would-be Japanese from ?San Francisco.

Kokoro means "heart" and it includes a number of glimpses into Japanese culture at the time. (read more about Hearn here).

Suffice it to say that this is a major work in the genre. Gutenberg has had some pretty hot properties of recent date.

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History of Mystery

Some fairly important mysteries have already made it to Gutenberg, but this is the first I've heard of R. Austin Freeman's The Red Thumb Mark. Part of the "Impossible Crime" Movement and featuring Dr.Thorndyke, this is a critical publication for those interested in the development of the mystery.

With this publication there were three other Thorndyke mysteries--The Uttermost Farthing, John Thorndyke's Cases, and The Mystery of 31 New Inn. I must confess ignorance as the the first and last of these--so more new good reading.

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September 23, 2005

Rashomon

Rashomon: And Other Stories

Probably the single most famous Japanese story of all time. Made into one of the most copied Japanese films of the great master Akira Kurasawa. And relentlessly copied in literature. If you read only one piece of Japanese literature, you owe it to yourself to become acquainted with this strange, haunting, frightening little tale.

later I see I originally neglected to mention that this story is by Akutagawa, often nicknamed "the Japanese Poe." But perhaps a much more important figure in Japan than Poe was in the U.S.

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September 18, 2005

John Mason Neale--A Romance

Theodora Phranza; or, the Fall of Constantinople, by John Mason Neale (1913)

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At Long Last--Another Ebook No One Cares About!

The Scholars

Finally an e-edition of the famous complementary volume to Dream of the Red Chamber. Like Red Chamber The Scholars is an 18th century novel in the realist tradition.

A sample from the very beginning:

from The Scholars
Wu Ching-tzu

The idea expressed in this poem is the commonplace one that in human life riches, rank, success and fame are external things. Men will risk their lives in the search for them; yet once they have them within their grasp, the taste is no better than chewed tallow. But from ancient times till now, how many have accepted this?

However, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty 1 a really remarkable man was born. His name was Wang Mien, and he lived in a village in Chuchi County in Chekiang. When he was seven his father died, but his mother took in sewing so that he could study at the village school. Soon three years had passed and Wang Mien was ten. His mother called him to her and said, “Son, it's not that I want to stand in your way. But since your father died and left me a widow, I have had nothing coming in. Times are hard, and fuel and rice are expensive. Our old clothes and our few sticks of furniture have been pawned or sold. We have nothing to live on but what I make by my sewing. How can I pay for your schooling? There's nothing for it but to set you to work looking after our neighbour's buffalo. You'll be making a little money every month, and you'll get your meals there too. You start tomorrow.”

“Yes, mother,” said Wang Mien. “I find sitting in school boring anyway. I'd rather look after buffaloes. If I want to study, I can take a few books along to read.” So that very night the matter was decided.

The next morning his mother took him to the Chin family next door. Old Chin gave them some breakfast, and when they had finished he led out a water buffalo and made it over to Wang Mien.

“Two bow shots from my gate is the lake,” he said, pointing outside. “And by the lake is a belt of green where all the buffaloes of the village browse. There are a few dozen big willows there too, so that it is quiet, shady and cool; and if the buffalo is thirsty it can drink at the water's edge. You can play there, son; but don't wander off. I shall see that you get rice and vegetables twice a day; and each morning I shall give you a few coppers to buy a snack to eat while you're out. Only you must work well. I hope you'll find this satisfactory.”

Wang Mien's mother thanked Old Chin and turned to go home. Her son saw her to the gate, and there she straightened his clothes for him.

“Mind now, don't give them any reason to find fault with you,” she charged him. “Go out early and come back at dusk. I don't want to have to worry about you.”

Wang Mien nodded assent. Then, with tears in her eyes, she left him.

From this time onwards, Wang Mien looked after Old Chin's buffalo; and every evening he went home to sleep. Whenever the Chin family gave him salted fish or meat, he would wrap it up in a lotus leaf and take it to his mother. He also saved the coppers he was given each day to buy a snack with, and every month or so would seize an opportunity to go to the village school to buy some old books from the book-vendor making his rounds. Every day, when he had tethered the buffalo, he would sit down beneath the willows and read.

So three or four years quickly passed. Wang Mien studied and began to see things clearly. One sultry day in early summer, tired after leading the buffalo to graze, he sat down on the grass. Suddenly dense clouds gathered, and there was a heavy shower of rain. Then the black storm clouds fringed with fleecy white drifted apart, and the sun shone through, bathing the whole lake in crimson light. The hills by the lake were blue, violet and emerald. The trees, freshly washed by the rain, were a lovelier green than ever. Crystal drops were dripping from a dozen lotus buds in the lake, while beads of water rolled about the leaves.

As Wang Mien watched, he thought, “The ancients said, 'In a beautiful scene a man feels he is part of a picture.' How true! What a pity there is no painter here to paint these sprays of lotus. That would be good.” Then he reflected, “There's nothing a man can't learn. Why shouldn't I paint them myself?”

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September 16, 2005

Finally. . . Soseki

Soseki Natsume's Botchan on-line. One of the great Japanese Novelists, one of his great novels.

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September 10, 2005

The Death-Wake

The Death-Wake


Okay, I'll admit it. I include this one merely for one of the more bizarre titles I've seen in a long time:

"The Death-Wake or Lunacy; A Necromaunt in Three Chimeras"

Very, very odd indeed. With an intro by Andrew Lang.

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The PreInklings

A novel by Maurice Baring, the third member of the "PreInklings" consisting of Chesterton, Belloc, and their associates. You don't often find Baring's stuff on the web or elsewhere, so I thought I'd alert you.

C

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September 05, 2005

Sorry, One More

It's on days like these that you can tell I run this blog for me. I collect all these bits and pieces and put them into posts so that when I've forgotten where they are in my bookmarks, etc., I'll have a repository. Sorry.

But this site features a large number of e-texts--some by John W. Cample, Alan E. Nourse, Marion Zimmer Bradley, and Andre Norton. All are claimed to be copyright cleared.

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Against the Neo-Malthusians

An interesting text against birth control. I do not know its vintage, though it strikes me that much of the advise is incorrect and some of the physiology odd--so it may be turn of the century. (GSB is quoted--another clue.) It has this striking paragraph toward the end:

from Birth Control
Halliday G. Sutherland M.D.

There are thousands who know little of the Catholic or of any other faith, and thousands who believe the Catholic Church to be everything except what it is. These people have no infallible rule of faith and morals, and when confronted, as they now are, by a dangerous, insidious campaign in favour of birth control, they do not react consistently or at all. It was therefore thought advisable to issue this statement in defence of the position of the Catholic Church; but the reader should remember that the teaching of the Church on this matter is held by her members to be true, not merely because it agrees with the notions of all right-thinking men and women, not because it is in harmony with economic, statistical, social, and biological truth, but principally because they know this teaching to be an authoritative declaration of the law of God. The Ten Commandments have their pragmatic justification; they make for the good of the race; but the Christian obeys them as expressions of the Divine Will.

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Another E-Book Link

I found this yesterday and didn't quite know what to make of it. Was this an evangelical Matthew Fox? What exactly is Christian Hedonism?

But rather than continue to withhold, I thought you all might like to go and make your own evaluation. Given that it is evangelical, it could be anywhere in the spectrum from strongly anti-Catholic to nearly Catholic in sensibility. My sense of what I've seen is that the focus is "ecumenical."

So without further ado, I give you the library of the Desiring God foundation

A small sample from a book on fasting:

from A Hunger for God: Desiring God Through Fasting and Prayer John Piper

Beware of books on fasting. The Bible is very careful to warn us
about people who “advocate abstaining from foods, which God
created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know
the truth” (1 Timothy 4:1-3). The apostle Paul asks with dismay,
“Why . . . do you submit yourself to decrees, such as ‘Do not handle,
do not taste, do not touch’?” (Colossians 2:20-21). He is
jealous for the full enjoyment of Christian liberty. Like a great
declaration of freedom over every book on fasting flies the banner,
“Food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse
if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat” (1 Corinthians 8:8).
There once were two men. One said, “I fast twice a week”; the
other said, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Only one went
down to his house justified (Luke 18:12-14).

The discipline of self-denial is fraught with dangers—
perhaps only surpassed by the dangers of indulgence. These also
we are warned about: “All things are lawful for me, but I will not
be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12).

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September 04, 2005

I Beg One Last Indulgence

For the Antiquarians--the online works of William Morris. Arguably a better poet and designer than prose artist. Nevertheless, once you slip into the oddities of style, there is something wonderful about William Morris's work. Definitely for the medievalists and pseudo-medievalists amongst us. Waters of the Wondrous Isles, translations of Old French Romances and Icelandic sagas, and some very, very, very fine poetry.

And for those more modern, a relatively early work by Andre Norton.

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Another Amazing Compendium of Books

I'm not certain what all the titles here have to do with one another, but there's sure a lot of them.

Online Library of Liberty

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For Only the Most Inveterately Irish

Dracula's Crypt: Bram Stoker, Irishness, and the Question of Blood" Weird study of Dracula.

Sample:

from Dracula's Crypt:"The Metrocolonial Vampire"
Joseph Valente

A founding insight of the Irish Dracula school of criticism has been that Harker's observations in Transylvania refer in whole or in part to the features of life in Ireland in the nineteenth century.3 I think it would be more accurate to say that Harker's observations in Transylvania seem intended to echo or recall prominent treatises, received wisdom, and well-worn remarks, not to mention canards about Ireland. His comment on the immodesty of a peasant woman's native dress, for example, rehearses Edmund Spenser's strictures on Irish women's attire in A View of the Present State of Ireland.4 Harker's complaint about dilatory trains and his comments on the "idolatrous" peasants kneeling by a roadside shrine in a "self-surrender of devotion" (11), like figures "in old missals" (15), would have been familiar enough from Anglocentric travel narratives about Ireland. So too would have been his sense of the general depopulation of the countryside.

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Michael Palin's Guides to Everything

He has his own Site. Seems to include complete text of many books and some Quick Time videos, maps, etc. Cool!

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Chesterton

A list of what's available via Gutenberg. There's even more in Australia Gutenberg.

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Fr. James V. Schall online

Another Sort of Learning. Includes links to a wide variety of essays and studies by this erudite commentator on literature, society, and learning.

Subjects include: Belloc, Chesterton, Sense and Nonsense, Augustinian Political Philosophy, Teaching and Learning, Christian Political Philosophy, Thomas Aquinas--each subject having a plethora of resources associated with it. Truly a treasure trove.

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Here's Another--The Doré Bible Illustrations

They can be found here. It's nice that Gutenberg is doing something other than plain vanilla .txt files.

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May 25, 2005

Two Medieval English Dictionary Sources

An Old one

and a new one.

The Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse, which includes the world-famous Ayenbite of inwit.

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March 28, 2005

The Art of Singing

by Luisa Tetrazzini and Enrico Caruso--the former having a most formidable bosum, and undoubtedly capable of prolonged, protracted, perhaps even painful musical exhalations.

Find it here

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March 24, 2005

Selected Works of Edmund Burke

Trying to find the exact formulation of the quotation from the previous post, I did find this rather nice on-line compendium of Burke's writing. It includes Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontent, Reflections on the Revolution in France and Letters on a Regicide Peace.

Here's another listing, for those interested, including a wider variety of works.

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March 18, 2005

Who Knew. . .

that John Dryden, one of the greatest of the crop of late 17th century writers actually composed a Life of St. Francis Xavier and, it is reputed in the intro a life of St. Ignatius. Haven't read 'em so I don't have any idea how "fair" they might be, but it came as news to me.

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Sermons of St. Anthony of Padua

Via Summa Minutiae. Find them here.

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March 14, 2005

Discovered While Fact-Checking/Researching Waugh

An online version of the : a chronicle of the rulers of Rome that takes in the period between Suetonius's Twelve Caesars ( and Tacitus' Annals) and Procopius's Secret History. Very nice find. Seems I have much to thank Waugh for. This includes lives of a great many mostly unheard-of Emperors and pretenders to the throne. Enjoy.

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March 03, 2005

For Those Interested in St. Edmund Campion

Ten Reasons in Latin and English.

Campion's "Brag" or Challenge to the Privy Council

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February 26, 2005

The Blessing of Great Works

Guide for the Perplexed --Moses Maimonides (aka Rambam)--one of the great scholars and writers of his, or any time.

Excerpt of above:

My primary object in this work is to explain certain words occurring in the prophetic books. Of these some are homonyms, and of their several meanings the ignorant choose the wrong ones; other terms which are employed in a figurative sense are erroneously taken by such persons in their primary signification. There are also hybrid terms, denoting things which are of the same class from one point of view and of a different class from another. It is not here intended to explain all these expressions to the unlettered or to mere tyros, a previous knowledge of Logic and Natural Philosophy being indispensable, or to those who confine their attention to the study of our holy Law, I mean the study of the canonical law alone; for the true knowledge of the Torah is the special aim of this and similar works.


[And another from "On the Three Types of Evils"]

MEN frequently think that the evils in the world are more numerous than the good things; many sayings and songs of the nations dwell on this idea. They say that a good thing is found only exceptionally, whilst evil things are numerous and lasting. Not only common people make this mistake, but even many who believe that they are wise. Al-Razi wrote a well-known book On Metaphysics [or Theology]. Among other mad and foolish things, it contains also the idea, discovered by him, that there exists more evil than good. For if the happiness of man and his pleasure in the times of prosperity be compared with the mishaps that befall him, such as grief, acute pain, defects, paralysis of the limbs, fears, anxieties, and troubles, it would seem as if the existence of man is a punishment and a great evil for him. This author commenced to verify his opinion by counting all the evils one by one; by this means he opposed those who hold the correct view of the benefits bestowed by God and His evident kindness, viz., that God is perfect goodness, and that all that comes from Him is absolutely good. The origin of the error is to be found in the circumstance that this ignorant man, and his party among the common people, judge the whole universe by examining one single person. For an ignorant man believes that the whole universe only exists for him; as if nothing else required any consideration. If, therefore, anything happens to him contrary to his expectation, he at once concludes that the whole universe is evil. If, however, he would take into consideration the whole universe, form an idea of it, and comprehend what a small portion he is of the Universe, he will find the truth. For it is clear that persons who have fallen into this widespread error as regards the multitude of evils in the world, do not find the evils among the angels, the spheres and stars, the elements, and that which is formed of them, viz., minerals and plants, or in the various species of living beings, but only in some individual instances of mankind. They wonder that a person, who became leprous in consequence of bad food, should be afflicted with so great an illness and suffer such a isfortune; or that he who indulges so much in sensuality as to weaken his sight, should be struck With blindness! and the like.

The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite aka St. Denis (in some Medieval Works).

from "The Treatise on the Names of God"

Concerning this then, as has been said, the superessential and hidden Deity, it is not permitted to speak or even to think beyond the things divinely revealed to us in the sacred Oracles. For even as Itself has taught (as becomes Its goodness) in the Oracles, the science and contemplation of Itself in Its essential Nature is beyond the reach of all created things, as towering superessentially above all. And you will find many of the Theologians, who have celebrated It, not only as invisible and incomprehensible, but also as inscrutable and untraceable, since there is no trace of those who have penetrated to Its hidden infinitude. The Good indeed is not entirely uncommunicated to any single created being, but benignly sheds forth its superessential ray, persistently fixed in Itself, by illuminations analogous to each several being, and elevates to Its permitted contemplation and communion and likeness, those holy minds, who, as far as is lawful and reverent, strive after It, and who are neither impotently boastful towards that which is higher than the harmoniously imparted Divine manifestation, nor, in regard to a lower level, lapse downward through their inclining to the worse, but who elevate themselves determinately and unwaveringly to the ray shining upon them; and, by their proportioned love 4of permitted illuminations, are elevated with a holy reverence, prudently and piously, as on new wings.

from "The Letters of Dionysius

The Divine gloom is the unapproachable light in which God is said to dwell66. And in this gloom, invisible67 indeed, on account of the surpassing brightness, and unapproachable on account of the excess of the superessential stream of light, enters every one deemed worthy to know and to see God, by the very fact of neither seeing nor knowing, really entering in Him, Who is above vision and knowledge, knowing this very thing, that He is after all the object of sensible and intelligent perception, and saying in the words of the Prophet, Thy knowledge was regarded as wonderful by me; It was confirmed; I can by no means attain unto it68; even as the Divine Paul is said to have known Almighty God, by having known Him as being above all conception and knowledge. Wherefore also, he says, His ways are past finding out69 and His Judgements inscrutable, and His gifts indescribable70, and that His peace surpasses every mind71, as having found Him Who is above all, and having known this which is above conception, that, by being Cause of all, He is beyond all.

Keep in mind that these may be the works of the "Pseudo-Dionysius" no less respectable despite the questionable name.


Of God and His Creatures St. Thomas Aquinas

The Catena Aurea for the Gospel of Mark

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February 08, 2005

"And Now for Something Completely Different. . ."

For those feeling a bit peckish but nevertheless not wishing to curtail their walpoling activities, Hugh Walpole's The Cathedral. May be the wrong Walpole, but read it with a nice bit of stilton or some brie (even very runny brie) and you won't notice the difference.

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January 04, 2005

On-Line Catholic Bible Commentary

TSO noted that this Catholic Commenatry on the Bible was available online. I don't know what Questia is, but if it is open to all, this is a wonderful resource.

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December 27, 2004

Appropriate for the Season

As we approach Epiphany and the brilliant end of the Christmas Season (actually with Baptism of the Lord), we have The Story of the Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke.

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December 16, 2004

Code of Canon Law

Online here

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November 29, 2004

E-Chesterton

Books from Gutenberg--Chesterton--scroll to November 29

* The Crimes of England
* The Barbarism of Berlin
* The Appetite of Tyranny, Including Letters to an Old Garibaldian
* The Wild Knight, and Other Poems
* The Defendant (second edition, 1902)
* Twelve Types
* Robert Browning
* The New Jerusalem
* Varied Types

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November 08, 2004

Literary Taste: How to Form It

A magnificent e-text from the author of one of the 100 best books of the twentieth century. This excerpt:

from Literary Taste: How to Form It
Arnold Bennett

Chapter IX Verse

There is a word, a name of fear, which rouses terror in the heart of the vast educated majority of the English-speaking race. The most valiant will fly at the mere utterance of that word. The most broad-minded will put their backs up against it. The most rash will not dare to affront it. I myself have seen it empty buildings that had been full; and I know that it will scatter a crowd more quickly than a hose-pipe, hornets, or the rumour of plague. Even to murmur it is to incur solitude, probably disdain, and possibly starvation, as historical examples show. That word is poetry.. . .


The formation of literary taste cannot be completed until that prejudice has been conquered. My very difficult task is to suggest a method of conquering it. I address myself exclusively to the large class of people who, if they are honest, will declare that, while they enjoy novels, essays, and history, they cannot stand verse. The case is extremely delicate, like all nervous cases. It is useless to employ the arts of reasoning, for the matter has got beyond logic; it is instinctive. Perfectly futile to assure you that verse will yield a higher percentage of pleasure than prose! You will reply: We believe you, but that doesn't help us. Therefore I shall not argue. I shall venture to prescribe a curative treatment (doctors do not argue); and I beg you to follow it exactly, keeping your nerve and your calm. Loss of self-control might lead to panic, and panic would be fatal.


So, for those of you who suffer metrophobia run, don't walk to this text and find out what Bennett's advice might be. The life you change could be your own!

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October 20, 2004

E-books

In Praise of the New Knighthood St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Poems Jonathan Swift

The Primitive Rule of the Templars

The Hawaiian Romance Of Laieikawai

Youth and the Bright Medusa--Willa Cather

The Tatler, Vol I Addison and Steele

The Complete Studies in the Psychology of Sex--Havelock Ellis--the beginning of the slippery slope in the twentieth Century. Unfortunately more influential that Freud.

The Nonsence Verse of Edward Lear

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October 11, 2004

Elizabethan Authors

Here

Featuring a far-too-annotated Thomas Kyd The Spanish Tragedy along with some unfortunately modernized John Lyly--why can't people leave things alone. Yes, they're tough to read in the original, but it give the brain a little work to do and you have a sense of the author you don't get when people go fiddling with the texts. Well, for better or worse:

If 'tis done when 'twere done
'tis best 'twere done quickly.

Enjoy

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October 07, 2004

E-books Worthy of Your Attention--John Ruskin

Val d'Arno: Ten Lectures on the Tuscan Art Directly Antecedent to the Florentine Year of Victories -- John Ruskin--Prince of the Victorian Critics, if something of an aesthete.

Also Queen of the Air

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October 06, 2004

Jansenism

From a correspondent--an extremely interesting site with everything you always wanted to know about Jansenism but were afraid to ask. Note the inclusion of a PDF of Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange's Grace, being a Thomistic explanation of the doctrine of Grace &c.

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September 25, 2004

From Project Canterbury

The Worthy Communicant;
Or, a Discourse of the Nature, Effects, and Blessings consequent to the Worthy Receiving of the Lord's Supper, And of all the Duties required in Order to a Worthy Preparation: Together with the Cases of Conscience occurring in the Duty of Him that Ministers, and of Him that Communicates; As also Devotions Fitted to Every Part of the Ministration.

by Jeremy Taylor, author of the remarkable Holy Living and Holy Dying

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September 11, 2004

Incredibly Cool!

Comparing the texts - Shakespeare in quarto

Yes, you can see some of the orginal Quarto editions of Shakespeare's work! Wonderful! Magnificent! Exciting! Even for people who are not Shakespearian Scholars. This is one of the reasons I love the web!

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September 09, 2004

E-Books-Chesterton and Belloc

Robert Browning--G.K. Chesterton


The Vanity of Human Wishes and Rambler Papers--Samuel Johnson

Hills and the Sea--Hillaire Belloc

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August 22, 2004

An Orthodox Psalter

POMOG - Daily Psalter Readings

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More Than You Ever Dreamed You Wanted To Know (or Didn't) about North Carolina

North Carolina History and Fiction Digital Library

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August 19, 2004

E. F. Benson

Crescent and Iron Cross--an unusual work by Benson, neither Lucia nor the splendid Ghost Stories (including "Room for One More" and "The Room in the Tower"). I've not read it--but for afficianados of this brother of the illustrious R.H. Benson--a Chesterton-age convert who became a priest.

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August 17, 2004

A Travelogue by S. Baring-Gould

In Troubadour-Land S. Baring-Gould

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For the Mathematically Inclined

Chebyshev and Fourier Spectrum Models

Problem Course in Mathematical Logic

A Plethora of Books from the AMS (I'm assuming that is the American Mathematical Society.)

Dynamical Systems and Ergodic Theory

Jacobi Operators and Completely Integrable Nonlinear Lattices

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Poetry in Translation

Poetry In Translation - A.S. Kline's Free Archive--provides translations of Catullus (not for the easily offended), Ovid (ditto), as well as prominent modern or recent European poets--Goethe, Guillaume Apollinaire, Paul Eluard, etc. (Includes a complete Dunio Elegies, a complete Divine Comedy with notes, a complete Canti of Leopardi, a complete Canzoniere of Petrarch, and a complete Faust with notes.

Very nice.

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August 07, 2004

Biographical Dictionary of the U.S. Congress

from the beginning to now--here. Found searching for George Wythe.

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August 05, 2004

St Bernard of Clairvaux

Following on today's office of readings, I was stunned to find this magnificent treasure trove on-line. St. Bernard of Clarivaux's Sermons on the Song of Songs--Volumes I and II.

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August 03, 2004

Early Christian Writers

From an interesting site, and interesting book by George Jackson--a summary of the writings of the Early Church fathers, The Greek Post-Nicene Fathers. There's a nice description of the Church Father and of the nature of his writings.

An interesting e-Catena which includes excerpts from the Apocrypha of the New Testament including the exceedingly weird Protevangelium of James.

Look around the site, there is much of great interest and much that will confound, confuse, and add fuel to The DaVinci Code flame. We've had them with us from the very beginning. I suppose we should be thankful for Dominicans and Jesuits.

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July 31, 2004

For Hillaire Belloc Fans and others

I don't know if this is a fragment, a pamphlet, a reprint of an extended essay, but here it is: The Historic Thames

Thomas Chatterron's faked 15th century poems The Rowley Poems

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July 29, 2004

Mystical Theology

Dionysius the Areopagite: On the Divine Names and the Mystical Theology

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Site for Works of Marvin Olasky

Marvin Olasky's Books and Articles

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Pedro Calderon de la Barca

The Two Lovers of Heaven: Chrysanthus and Daria

Posted by Steven Riddle at 05:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 26, 2004

From the Site I Posted Yesterday

Were you all aware of the availability of these e-books? If so, shame on you for not telling me.

This collection includes:

The Golden Legend Jacobus de Voraigne
Steedman on the Saints
Documents of the Council of Trent
Writings of St. Catherine of Genoa
For Greater Things: The Story of St. Stanislaw Kostka
Memoir of Father Vincent de Paul

etc.

Go and see, wonderful resources!

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July 25, 2004

St Joseph Software Home Page

A correspondent sent me this wonderful link. I'll be adding it to my side-column later.

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July 20, 2004

Essential E-Texts

Procopius--The Secret History of the Courts of Justinian a.k.a. The Secret History second only to Suetonius in gossipy vitriol, this history of the the Court helps us to better appreciate the derogatory adjective "byzantine."

John Webster--The White Devil Read it to truly appreciate the greatness of Shakespeare, but also for its sheer lurid awfulness--not in prose or poetry but in story conception.

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June 06, 2004

E-books Worthy of Note

A very nice little translation of some of the more important texts fromt he Early Church Fathers with explanatory notes is available through CCEL Early Christian Fathers.


And a novel about the days of St. John Chrysostom--Frederic Farrar The Gathering Storm

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June 03, 2004

E-book Annouoncements

The following should be of some interest to St. Blogs, as I think it has been out-of-print or only available in omnibus volumes:

G. K. Chesterton Twelve Types

Including studies of Savonarola, Tolstoy, Stevenson, Scott, and St. Francis.

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June 02, 2004

E Book Roundup

M. R. James's translation of Biblical Antiquities of Philo

A popularized Pseudepigrapha The Forgotten Books of Eden

Cicero De Amicitia; Scipio's Dream

Tacitus The Germany and the Agricola

Crutwell A History of Roman Literature

Lord The Roman Pronunciation of Latin

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May 28, 2004

Harvest of E-books

For our lawyers and the lawyerly inclined: BLACKSTONE'S COMENTARIES: WITH NOTES OF REFERENCE, TO THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS, OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES; AND OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA. IN FIVE VOLUMES. WITH AN APPENDIX TO EACH VOLUME, CONTAINING SHORT TRACTS UPON SUCH SUBJECTS AS APPEARED NECESSARY TO FORM A CONNECTED VIEW OF THE LAWS OF VIRGINIA,AS A MEMBER OF THE FEDERAL UNION.
St. George Tucker, 1803.

Sax Rohmer's magnificent Brood of the Witch Queen (How could you possibly resist a title so lurid?

George du Maurier Trilby

George Du Maurier Peter Ibbetson

For the hopelessly recondite: Charles Bishko Portuguese and Spanish Monastic History 600-1300


And a searchable Douay-Rheims-Challoner Bible Not so fine as the King James, lacking some linguistic nuance and subtlety, but still a very nice translation. Also has a nice link to a searchable Latin Vulgate Bible.

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May 21, 2004

King Charles I--Martyr?

For those interested in King Charles the First and the Anglo-Catholic view of him, you could do worse than to seek the library of documents at Project Canterbury.

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May 20, 2004

Roundup of E-Books

G.K. Chesterton The Defendant See particularly the essays on humility and the detective story.

William Wordworth The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth, Vol III--which volume includes the autobiographical and exceedingly influential poem The Prelude (in fourteen books).

Jonathan Swift Prose Works of Jonathan Swift vol III--including the essay on abolishing Christianity in England.

Roy Chapman Andrews Camps and Trails in China Andrews is one of the first names in Dinosaur Paleontology and apparently natural history--a narrative of his sojourn in China.

Sir George Frazer Balder the Beautiful, Vol 1 a lesser-known anthropoogical work.

John Muir The Grand Canon of the Colorado by America's earliest conservationist/naturalist.

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May 18, 2004

For Don

And now you can't say that I have never done anything for you--

A Treatise Of Daunses, Wherin it is Shewed, That They Are as it Were Accessories and Dependants (or Thynges Annexed) to Whoredome: Where Also by the Way is Touched and Proued, That Playes are Ioyned and Knit Togeather in a Rancke or Rowe With Them

What we might term one of the more progressive texts of its time.

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April 30, 2004

Now Available

Pedro Calderon de la Barca's The Two Lovers of Heaven: Chrysanthus and Daria--a play subtitled "A story of early Christian Rome." Worth looking at.

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April 20, 2004

A Martian Odyssey and other E-Text Delights

Surprised and delighted to find it available online here

Not a fan of G.K. Chesterton's poetry, but for those who are The Wild Night and Other Poems

Flaubert's Trois Contes including the remarkable "Un Coeur Simple" and " La Légende de St. Julien L'Hosptialier"

A lesser known Weinbaum story "Valley of Dreams"

Johnson's Essays from The Adventurer and The Idler

This link contains selections of the Red Book of Hergest and the Black Book of Caermaerthen (or sometimes spelled Caer Myrddin) as well as the book of Taliessin and Aneurin. Thus the four so-called Ancient Books of Wales. See Charles Williams The Arthurian Torso for more exposition.

And here Lady Guest's translation of The Mabinogion including some of the earliest known Welsh sources for the Arthurian legend.

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April 17, 2004

And For the Purely Weird. . .

you can't beat W. Scott-Eliot's The Lost Lemuria. Enjoy this delightfully bizarre telling of the Atlantis-like continent that occupied the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Very nice. Hope we Velikovsky next.

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An Older, Very Protestant, But Nevertheless Intersting Book:

The Value of a Praying Mother

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April 12, 2004

Riches Found While Searching

While looking for references in the previous posts I found a number of interesting sites:

19th Century French Literature

Athena:Authors and Texts in French This latter having the works of Chretien de Troyes, Pascal, and many, many others.

Enjoy!

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April 08, 2004

The Way of the Cross

With meditations by Fr. Andre Louf.

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April 04, 2004

Robert Hugh Benson

Dawn of All is available as e-text. When will we finally see Come Rack, Come Rope ?

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April 03, 2004

Charles Williams E-books

The least known and unjustly neglected member of the inklings available as e-text.

My very favorite (an apparently a favorite of T.S. Eliot) All Hallow's Eve

Descent into Hell

Many Dimensions

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March 29, 2004

More Religious E-Texts

Here's a site that has a great many e-books some in PDF, some in HTML, and others as TXT which can be modified to be read on palm devices. This includes a slew of G.K. Chesterton, the Catechism and other important works. For those who are not aware, it is possible to get a PDF reader for Palm from adobe. It requires that you convert ordinary PDFs into palm-readable PDFs, but it is very, very nice. (It also allows you to carry around many of the books from the Broderhof collective.)

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From St. Louis de Montfort

First part available in its entirety here

from The Secret of the Rosary
St. Louis de Montfort

Saint Gregory of Nyssa makes a delightful comparison when he says that we are all artists and that our souls are blank canvasses which we have to fill in. The colors which we use are the Christian virtues, and the original which we have to copy is Jesus Christ, the perfect living image of God the Father. Just as a painter who wants to do a lifelike portrait places the model before his eyes and looks at it before making each stroke, so the Christian must always have before his eyes the life and virtues of Jesus Christ, so as never to say, think or do anything which is not in conformity with his model.

It was because Our Lady wanted to help us in the great task of working out our salvation that she ordered Saint Dominic to teach the faithful to meditate upon the sacred mysteries of the life of Jesus Christ. She did this, not only that they might adore and glorify him, but chiefly that they might pattern their lives and actions on his virtues.

See here for more Montfortian works online.

And here is an interesting prayer--The Fiery Prayer for the Apostles of the Latter Times by St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort.

It's a shame so much of this great Saint's work is co-opted by sedevacantists and other schismatics, as it is both profound and salutary.

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March 20, 2004

Selections from Pére Marie-Eugene de L'enfant Jesus

Here

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March 14, 2004

The Anatomy of Melancholy Online

from The Anatomy of Melancholy
Democritus Junior (Robert Burton)

A third argument may be derived from the precedent, [436]all men are
carried away with passion, discontent, lust, pleasures, &c., they generally
hate those virtues they should love, and love such vices they should hate.
Therefore more than melancholy, quite mad, brute beasts, and void of
reason, so Chrysostom contends; "or rather dead and buried alive," as [437] Philo Judeus concludes it for a certainty, "of all such that are carried
away with passions, or labour of any disease of the mind. Where is fear and
sorrow," there [438]Lactantius stiffly maintains, "wisdom cannot dwell,"

------"qui cupiet, metuet quoque porro,
Qui metuens vivit, liber mihi non erit unquam."[439]

Seneca and the rest of the stoics are of opinion, that where is any the
least perturbation, wisdom may not be found. "What more ridiculous," as
[440]Lactantius urges, than to hear how Xerxes whipped the Hellespont,
threatened the Mountain Athos, and the like. To speak _ad rem_, who is free
from passion? [441]_Mortalis nemo est quem non attingat dolor, morbusve_, as [442]Tully determines out of an old poem, no mortal men can avoid sorrow
and sickness, and sorrow is an inseparable companion from melancholy.
[443]Chrysostom pleads farther yet, that they are more than mad.

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January 01, 2004

For Your Delectation and Delight

Sir Philip Sidney's The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia

And a complete on-line Translation of Goethe's Faust

And here you will find a plethora of on-line works including:

Translations of some of the Poetry of Fredrico Garcia Lorca, Osip Mandelstahm, Rainer Maria Rilke (including the Dunio Elegies and The Sonnets to Orpheus, Petrarch, Leopardi, Baudelaire, Catullus, The Homeric Odes, Chaucer, Sidney, a new Translation of Racine's Phaedra, Cyrano de Bergerac, Aucassin and Nicolette, Verlaine, Apollinaire and others.

And at This site translations of Ovid and others including some interesting rhyming translations of Tang Dynasty Poets.

I found the translation of Baudelaire's extraordinarily difficult poem "Les Correspondences" very nice indeed.

And consider for a moment the notion of this venture--free on-line translations/texts. What a great way to start the New Year.

I might also suggest sampling the poet's original work. Some of it is appealing.

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November 05, 2003

Dream of the Red Chamber

For those interested in reading one of the earliest novels, this one by Cao Xuequin is now available via Blackmask. It looks like other than the Pinyin transliteration of the Author's name, the translation employs largely Wade-Giles, or perhaps even earlier systems--nevertheless, it can be quite enjoyable. Book two is also available on the same site.

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October 31, 2003

Exciting New Texts

In Welsh, with a nice introduction and translation

Y Gododin--Aneurin

(Although I would swear that I had heard this referred to as Y Gododdin)

Courtesy of Alicia

An Analytic Bibliography of On-Line Neo-Latin Texts

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October 16, 2003

E-Books For Everyone

H. Rider Haggard Fair Margaret
G.K. Chesterton Alarms and Discursions
John Knox First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (voted most amusing title in a long time)
Erasmus Darwin The Botanic Garden
M.R. James Ghost Stories of an Antiquary--Volume II--Contains the remarkable stories "Casting the Runes" and "Stalls of Barchester Cathedral." James is one of the all-time greats in the genre of stories that are just a bit chilling.

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October 08, 2003

Narnia Resource

A book highly recommended at Blithering Idiot, is made available on-line. Peter J. Schakel's Reading with the Heart: The Way into Narnia has long been out of print, but the author has generously made it available to readers through the web. Thanks to both Blithering and Mr. (Dr.?) Schakel.

By the way, I read Blithering Idiot to keep a sense of the pulse of conservative Episcopalianism in this time of crisis. (Midwest Conservative Journal is also an excellect resource for this. ). I continue to pray for those in the church who have chosen to lead others astray and hope that they will eventually come to understand the magnitude of what they have done.

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October 07, 2003

Room in the Dragon Volant Available as E-Text

The fantastically rare Room in the Dragon Volant by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, of Carmilla fame. Thank heaven's for rescuing such things from obscurity, if only to a pixelated existance.

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October 05, 2003

Craig Rice

Following on my note of this morning, following on Lee Ann's note, this announcement of the availability of at least the first three or four Craig Rice novels. An American mystery writer of some little talent and a good deal of humor. Now, if only we can start to see Thorne Smith available.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 09:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 01, 2003

How NOT to Make Your Point

I'm not fond of Schopenhauer's philosophy. I find it approaching Nietzsche's in utter repugnance; however, this little ditty seems to be a source of salutary reading for many of St. Blog's (and the world-at-large's) controversialists. These are to be distinguished from St. Blog's distinguished, reputable, and above-board disputant

Posted by Steven Riddle at 01:37 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

September 24, 2003

St. Francis de Sales--From a Contemporary

Here's a biography/study of St. Francis de Sales from 1639, approximately 17 years after the Sainted Bishop's death. It looks like a wonderful précis of his thought and spirituality.

An excerpt drawn quickly, at random:

from The Spirit of St. Francis de Sales
Jean Pierre Camus

Distrust of self and confidence in God are the two mystic wings of the dove; that is to say, of the soul which, having learnt to be simple, takes its flight and rests in God, the great and sovereign object of its love, of its flight, and of its repose.

The Spiritual Combat, which is an excellent epitome of the science of salvation and of heavenly teaching, makes these two things, distrust of self and confidence in God, to be, as it were, the introduction to true wisdom: they are, the author tells us, the two feet on which we walk towards it, the two arms with which we embrace it, and the two eyes with which we perceive it.

In proportion to the growth of one of these two in us is the increase of the other; the greater or the less the degree of our self-distrust, the greater or the less the degree of our confidence in God. But whence springs this salutary distrust of self? From the knowledge of our own misery and vileness, of our weakness and impotence, of our malice and levity. And whence proceeds confidence In God? From the knowledge which faith gives us of His infinite goodness, and from our assurance that He is rich in mercy to all those who call upon Him.

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September 19, 2003

Quiz Time

Okay, let's be honest now--how many of you even knew there was Tertullian Project?

One. . . two. . . three. . .

Okay, how many actually cared?

Anyone? Anyone?

For those interested includes texts in English, Latin, Italina, Russian, French, Greek, and perhaps other languages. In some cases mutliple translations of a single work (for example Ad Martyres. If the Church Fathers are your thing (even if Tertullian did become a montanist) this is a site for you.

This is an index of other Church Fathers' writing as well as the writing of such luminaries as Gildas (one of the very early supposed sources of the Arthur Legend) and other delightful tidbits.

Go a browse--there's a wealth of wonderful and entertaining stuff at these locations.

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September 15, 2003

A Complete Boswell-Life of John Vols 1-3 of 6

Great news for followers of e-books: a complete Life of Johnson in process

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

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Ancient Rome

From Mr. White's Blog, a link to a full reference on ancient Roman History. Try to ignore the very annoying popunders.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 08:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 13, 2003

A brief introduction to the art of Descant: or, Composing Musick in Parts

This work, by John Playford, is by the "Father of English Music Publication" according to the introduction. The work was written in 1654 and covers composition of music in 2, 3, and 4 parts. It appears to be part of a larger work.

Find the complete document via PDF, here

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September 11, 2003

A Depressing Document in the History of Religion

Here--Slavery Ordained of God. There's no point in denying these realities of the past and these misconstructions of God's word, but it does hurt at times. We do well to learn from our errors.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 09:46 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 02, 2003

For Fans of C.S. Lewis

For Fans of C.S. Lewis

His mentor's book Unspoken Sermons. George D. MacDonald, despite his excesses in the novel-world is one of the writers C.S. Lewis most admired. I would like to discover why. Perhaps these short sermons will help.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 05:57 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2003

New Resources

New Resources

In the course of preparing the previous post, I happened upon the following enormously valuable resources:

Greek New Testament, this one is up and working and provides the original Greek of the verse with an ability to parse the words as you click on them. Great for those learning Biblical Greek.

The New Testament Gateway, whose caretaker seems not to care for the Notion of Q (Quellen--a "source document" for the synoptic Gospels or at least Matthew and Mark). But it links to a Greek New Testament gateway that has links to a great many site.

And perhaps most wonderful of all The Unbound Bible which allows you to search for Biblical References in 10 English Versions, 5 Greek Versions, 2 Hebrew Versions (OT), 6 ancient versions--including Latin and the Septuagint, and 42 modern languages (including Icelandic). In addition, you can display these in parallel three versions at a time. It includes a Greek Lexical parser, and a Greek and Hebrew Lexicon, as well as a guide to reading the Bible in a year. The presence of Naves Topical Bible and Matthew Henry's commentary show this to be a protestant-influenced, possibly evangelical site, but the resources are tremendous and exciting (and it does include a Douay-Rheims-Challoner).

Wonderful, wonderful resources. Go and make good use of them.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 08:34 AM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2003

A New Scupoli Translation Mr.

A New Scupoli Translation

Mr. Perry seems to be working on a new translation of Scupoli's The Spiritual Combat, along with some cogent notes and details. So far only fourteen chapters, but I hope the work continues.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2003

A Treasure!

A Treasure!

Look at what I stumbled across in my searches: The Paradoxes of Catholicism, a collection of Sermons by Robert Hugh Benson. (I was actually looking for Come Rack, Come Rope which I know has been reprinted, but my book budget for such things is, shall we say, abstemious in the extreme.) Following an excerpt from a Sermons preached on Easter Day:

from Paradoxes of Catholicism--"Life and Death" Preached on Easter Day Robert Hugh Benson

It is easy, then, to see why it is that the Church dies daily, why it is that she is content to be stripped of all that makes her life effective, why she too permits her hands to be bound and her feet fettered and her beauty marred and her voice silenced so far as men can do those things. She is human? Yes; she dwells in a body that is prepared for her, but prepared chiefly that she may suffer in it. Her far-reaching hands are not hers merely that she may bind up with them the brokenhearted, nor her swift feet hers merely that she may run on them to succour the perishing, nor her head and heart hers merely that she may ponder and love. But all this sensitive human organism is hers that at last she may agonize in it, bleed from it from a thousand wounds, be lifted up in it to draw all men to her cross.

She does not desire, then, in this world, the throne of her Father David, nor the kind of triumph which is the only kind that the world understands to be so. She desires one life and one triumph only -- the Risen Life of her Saviour. And this, at last, is the transfiguration of her Humanity by the power of her Divinity and the vindication of them both.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 08:26 AM | Comments (0)

June 30, 2003

More on Lectio

More on Lectio

A generous reader contributed this website which is from the Valyermo Benedictine on lectio It includes tips for private consideration of the prayer and for communal forms. Quite often our Carmelite group does this with great effect for everyone--it allows an exploration of the message of scripture in a way that is impossible for a single person. Also, it better helps tease out some of the applications one might make of the scripture. My thanks to the person who so generously sent me this link. (There are a great many links out there on lectio. This one is nice because it is succinct and yet pretty thorough, it seems.)

Posted by Steven Riddle at 08:19 AM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2003

Berkeley and UC Press

Berkeley and UC Press

Apparently a great many books from these two sources are available online. Some of them of may interest some St. Blog's parishioners. I have yet to discover a good means to knowing everything available, as there doesn't appear to be a central index. But here's a couple of titles that may evoke some comment:

Papal Patronage and the Music of St. Peter's 1380-1513

Stravinsky and The Rite of Spring.

Later: Found the link to a general index:

University of California Press E-Scholarship Editions

Posted by Steven Riddle at 01:14 PM | Comments (0)

Wodehouse Fans

For some reason can't seem to get to Catholic Bookshelf to blog so I leave this notice here.

You may want to check out Blackmask, which has two works (look like collections of short stories):

Death at the Excelsior

and

The Politeness of Princes

and another from Gutenberg, certain to show up at Blackmask shortly:

The Man With Two Left Feet

Posted by Steven Riddle at 11:42 AM | Comments (0)

June 23, 2003

Pepys Online

I have read now, in several places, of the Pepys Now project, and heartily recommend it to your attention because the blog entries that have resulted from it have been most fascinating and enjoyable. I don't know about the promised instant immortality but I do think the personalization of history through such details is a powerful and persuasive argument for it.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 08:36 AM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2003

Passage from Another Work Compiled by Rose Hawthorne Lathorp

This brief passage, excerpted from a letter of Sophia Hawthorne may give some indication of why Rose Hawthorne Lathorp was able to develop in the way she did. For the complete work, look here

from Memories of Hawthorne Compiled and annotated by Rose Hawthorne Lathorp

We breakfast about nine o'clock, because we do not dine till three; and we have no tea ceremony, because it broke our evenings too much. I break my fast upon fruit, and we lunch upon fruit, and in the evening, also, partake of that paradisaical food. Mr. Emerson, with his sunrise smile, Ellery Channing, radiating dark light, and, very rarely, Elizabeth Hoar, with spirit voice and tread, have alone varied our days from without; but we have felt no want. My sweet, intelligent maid sings at her work, with melodious note. I do not know what is in store for me; but I know well that God is in the future, and I do not fear, or lose the precious present by anticipating possible evil. I remember Father Taylor's inspired words, "Heaven is not afar. We are like phials of water in the midst of the ocean. Eternity, heaven, God, are all around us, and we are full of God. Let the thin crystal break, and it is all one." Mr. Mann came to Concord to lecture last week. He looked happiest. What can he ask for more, having Mary for his own? Hold me ever as Your true and affectionate friend,

SOPHIA.

I love the image of "phials of water in the midst of the ocean." We cannot see what surrounds us even though it is at the same time within us.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 01:18 PM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2003

E-Books for All

E-Books for All--From the Bruderhof Community Website

I've never been quite sure what to make of the Bruderhof communities, and because I do not know, I will refrain from advancing an opinion. What I can say of the collective is that I have very much enjoyed some of the books they have published. You now have a chance to sample some of their work through an extensive e-book collection (perhaps as many as 28 titles.) This includes such works as a sampler of Soren Kierkegaard titled Provocations and other books that might appeal to some in St. Blogs. Go to this site and click e-books. I hope you enjoy them. Warning to the Nervous: Very Social Justice Oriented and VERY Anabaptist.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 06:04 PM | Comments (0)

June 18, 2003

A Coda to Disputations

John da Fiesole is ably defending the truth against various detractors. In response I found this absolutely irresistable piece of anti-Catholic diatribe, enshrined in the archives of Catholic-hating protestants everywhere. Ms. Monk purports to give a true account of the awful goings-on in a Canadian Nunnery. (Although given a recent post by Mr. de Vere at Catholic Light, it would seem that Canada has enough to account for on its own.)

Posted by Steven Riddle at 05:32 PM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2003

Originally Left in the Comment Box--American Memory Collection

One of the most superb collections of Americana available to all may be found here. Incorporating collections of literary works, presidents papers, photographs, films, and sound recordings, the collection is an invitation to the study of American History. You can view films from the Pan-American Exposition that marked the final days of William McKinley. You can see footage of early New York City. You can see letters by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson in their own hand--a couple of them taken from the blotter rather than the original. You can read about the Donner Party. The collection is searchable and it is also organized into "special exhibitions." Truly worth the time anytime you have something you want to research. (Oh, and if you wish to see it, there's even a famous fragment of a "Gertie the Dinosaur" cartoon.)

Posted by Steven Riddle at 08:25 AM | Comments (0)

March 09, 2003

Oh, I have Stumbled Upon a Treasure Trove

Start here with an arrangement of Herbert lyrics specifically selected and laid out for Lenten Reading.

Then visit the Tenebrae service accompanied by Herbert's "The Sacrifice"

And then go here for Herbertalia galore, including A Priest to the Temple and other Herbert Poems and writings. Wonderful, wonderful stuff.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 08:27 AM | Comments (0)

November 16, 2002

Calling All Proofreaders/Editors Distributed Proofreaders

Distributed Proofreaders (found here) could use your help. The concept behind Distributed Proofreaders is to proof public-domain e-texts for posting on the Gutenberg Site. Past projects have included things like Pope's translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey as well as a great many others. If you are interested in e-texts, in proofreading, or simply in getting a glimpse into the world of those of use who read nearly everything on a Palm OS computer--drop in here and see what's going on.

(Yes, I carry about 100 different books, articles, and collections on my Handspring with memory expansion. I want to get a machine that will take compact flash or smart media and load it up with complete Shakespeare, some lengthy anthologies of poetry I've found around the net and other more guilty goodies (such as the "Barsoom" Series of Burroughs and much of the complete opus of H. Rider Haggard--author of She, King Solomon's Mines [written on a dare] and Allan Quatermain. I could also put on A.E.W. Mason's Four Feathers, much of Stevenson [who I've come to like better than I originally did after reading his spirited defense of Fr. Damien], and yes, Chesterton--Currently I'm carrying Heretics, Orthodoxy, The Man Who Was Thursday, St. Thomas Aquinas, and some selected essays and poetry.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 08:53 AM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2002

Representative Poetry Online

Representative Poetry Online
Representative Poetry Online, or RPO as they are calling themselves, has change not only its URL but its format. It's great, take a look.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 07:43 AM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2002

For those who read French

For those who read French
This lovely piece. While I read French I dare not compose in it--the offense to native French ears would probably precipitate an international crisis.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 06:41 PM | Comments (0)

August 19, 2002

For Chesterton Fans

It may be that this is available elsewhere on the web, but this is the first full version I've come across of "Lepanto."

I must immediately say that usually I'm not overwhelmed by Chesterton's verse, mostly workmanlike stuff. But this piece is nice for those of us taught in American schools where we really haven't an inkling of some of the important things have have gone on in the world before our naissance. It also has some sumptuous imagery and works as narrative (often a very difficult trick to pull off in poetry).

from "Lepanto"
G. K. Chesterton

Mahound is in his paradise above the evening star,
(Don John of Austria is going to the war.)
He moves a mighty turban on the timeless houri's knees,
His turban that is woven of the sunsets and the seas.
He shakes the peacock gardens as he rises from his ease,
And he strides among the tree-tops and is taller than the trees;
And his voice through all the garden is a thunder sent to bring
Black Azrael and Ariel and Ammon on the wing.
Giants and the Genii,
Multiplex of wing and eye,
Whose strong obedience broke the sky
When Solomon was king.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)

August 02, 2002

Peggy Noonan on John Paul II

Dylan at Error 503 recommends this. I couldn't possibly agree more. A very moving, sensitive, and timely tribute to a very loving, concerned, and strong man. No matter what one might say about feminization of faith (page down to August 1, 1:07 pm) il Papa is not exemplary of the trend.

Posted by Steven Riddle at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2002

Prayers from Other Places I

I hesitate to call these prayers of the Eastern Church, but these wonderful treasures on Dylan Six-Eighteen's site here and here should provide days of reflection, meditation, and food for thought. A line I shall treasure

"Hail, O little space that held within it Him whom the world cannot contain! "

These two pieces are going into my personal prayer book. Thanks Dylan!

Posted by Steven Riddle at 05:41 PM | Comments (0)