Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 057
Various
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
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
(4 hr 23 min)
Chapters
The Black Walnut | 4:50 | Read by April6090 |
Can Radio Ignite Balloons | 17:47 | Read by Availle |
Communal Life of Yellow-Jacket Wasps | 21:11 | Read by Sue Anderson |
Fifty Quatrains from Nostradamus | 14:49 | Read by Craig Campbell |
A Forest Fire in Northern Wisconsin | 16:22 | Read by Phil Schempf |
The Great Alaskan Earthquakes of 1899, Part 1 | 28:38 | Read by J. M. Smallheer |
The Great Alaskan Earthquakes of 1899, Part 2 | 10:42 | Read by J. M. Smallheer |
A Guide to the Giant's Causeway, Ireland | 36:13 | Read by Colleen McMahon |
The Krakatoa Sunsets | 16:15 | Read by Sue Anderson |
The Loss of His Majesty's Frigate Anson | 21:38 | Read by Lynne T |
Modern Burglar's Strange Evolution | 6:57 | Read by Colleen McMahon |
Of Things and Words | 17:07 | Read by Craig Campbell |
Painting Reflections | 16:20 | Read by Sue Anderson |
Progress | 4:31 | Read by April6090 |
The Virgin Averse to Matrimony | 30:11 | Read by Craig Campbell |