Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 062
Various
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Fifteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Volume 62 features several introspective essays: by T. S. Eliot (Tradition and Individual Talent), Stephen Leacock (The Decline of the Drama), Carlyle (The Sacredness of Work), and Jonathan Swift (A Meditation Upon a Broomstick). Life questions are further explored by theologians Agrippa von Nettesheim (The Vanity of Arts and Sciences) and Spurgeon (Effectual Calling, Sermon # 73), while spiritualist Andrew Jackson Davis presents his understanding of death and dying (The Portal of the Unknown).
Public and political life are examined by Eltwood Pomeroy (The Follies of Legislators), Henry Ward Beecher (The American Flag), Franklin Hanford (Did Betsy Ross Design the Flag?), and Nicolas de Condorcet (On the Admission of Women to the Rights of Citizenship).
Vol. 62 includes biographical sketches of two men of genius, a scientist, Nikola Tesla (Hugo Gernsback) and a painter, John Singer Sargent (Henry James). Finally, a scientific look at the destructive power of sea waves is complemented by a meditation on nature's grandeur by poet Rupert Brooke, who visits Niagara Falls and is moved to " thoughts of destiny and the passage of empires." - Summary by Sue Anderson (3 hr 42 min)
Chapters
The American Flag | 5:11 | Read by Dale Grothmann |
The Decline of the Drama | 12:45 | Read by Peter Thomlinson (1940-2022) |
Did Betsy Ross Design the Flag of the United States of America? | 21:07 | Read by Wayne Cooke |
Effectual Calling, Sermon 73 (1856) | 36:07 | Read by Leighton Garner |
The Follies of Legislatures | 15:32 | Read by Colleen McMahon |
John Singer Sargent | 36:45 | Read by Sue Anderson |
A Meditation upon a Broomstick | 3:49 | Read by Dale Grothmann |
Niagara Falls | 14:08 | Read by Peter Thomlinson (1940-2022) |
Nikola Tesla the Man | 4:33 | Read by Kane Mercer |
On the Actual Height of Sea Waves | 3:06 | Read by Availle |
On the Admission of Women to the Rights of Citizenship | 19:54 | Read by Craig Campbell |
The Portal Of The Unknown | 12:16 | Read by Dale Grothmann |
The Sacredness Of Work | 2:34 | Read by Dale Grothmann |
Tradition and Individual Talent | 26:18 | Read by Sumit Waghmare |
The Vanity of Arts and Sciences (excerpt) | 8:31 | Read by Craig Campbell |