Prefaces and Prologues to Famous Books


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Charles W. Eliot, 21st President of Harvard University, edited this volume of prefaces ... authored by a Who's Who of World Literature: Bacon, Calvin, Caxton, Condell, Copernicus, Dryden, Fielding, Goethe, Heminge, Hugo, Johnson, Knox, Newton, Raleigh, Spenser, Taine, Whitman and Wordsworth. Eliot wrote in his preface to these prefaces, "No part of a book is so intimate as the Preface. Here, after the long labor of the work is over, the author descends from his platform, and speaks with his reader as man to man, disclosing his hopes and fears, seeking sympathy for his difficulties, offering defence or defiance, according to his temper, against the criticisms which he anticipates." (Summary by DSayers) (21 hr 28 min)

Chapters

Introductory Notes 7:48 Read by Martin Geeson
Prologues & Epilogues to the History of Troy and other writings by William Caxt… 40:22 Read by Martin Geeson
Prologues & Epilogues to the History of Troy and other writings, Part 2 35:19 Read by Martin Geeson
Dedication of The Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin 51:42 Read by MaryAnn
General Syllabus by John Calvin 10:20 Read by MaryAnn
Dedication of The Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies by Nicolaus Copernicus 15:50 Read by Availle
Preface to the History of the Reformation in Scotland by John Knox 6:04 Read by doublemirrors
Prefatory Letter to Sir Walter Raleigh on The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser 15:24 Read by Martin Geeson
Preface to The History of the World by Sir Walter Raleigh, Part 1 42:52 Read by Bob Neufeld
Preface to The History of the World, Part 2 45:55 Read by Bob Neufeld
Preface to The History of the World, Part 3 29:23 Read by Bob Neufeld
Preface to The History of the World, Part 4 24:53 Read by Bob Neufeld
Preface and Plan of The Instauratio Magna by Sir Francis Bacon, Part 1 36:16 Read by Bob Neufeld
Preface and Plan of The Instauratio Magna, Part 2 33:28 Read by Bob Neufeld
Preface and Plan of The Instauratio Magna, Part 3 14:26 Read by Martin Gradwell
Preface to the First Folio Edition of Shakespeare's Plays by John Heminge 6:03 Read by Martin Geeson
Preface to The Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica by Sir Isaac Newton 8:38 Read by Availle
Preface to Fables, Ancient and Modern by John Dryden, Part 1 43:18 Read by Martin Geeson
Preface to Fables, Ancient and Modern, Part 2 42:16 Read by Martin Geeson
Preface to Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding 20:19 Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
Preface to the English Dictionary by Samuel Johnson 36:10 Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
To the Earl of Chesterfield by Samuel Johnson 49:52 Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
Preface to Shakespeare by Samuel Johnson, Part 1 50:30 Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
Preface to Shakespeare, Part 2 51:56 Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
Preface to Shakespeare, Part 3 30:58 Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
Introduction to The Propylaen by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 46:54 Read by Ernst Pattynama
Prefaces to Poems by William Wordsworth, Part 1 38:03 Read by TriciaG
Prefaces to Poems, Part 2 40:43 Read by TriciaG
Prefaces to Poems, Part 3 35:04 Read by TriciaG
Prefaces to Poems, Part 4 35:42 Read by TriciaG
Prefaces to Poems, Part 5 33:01 Read by TriciaG
Preface to Cromwell by Victor Hugo, Part 1 46:57 Read by Leni
Preface to Cromwell, Part 2 45:20 Read by Leni
Preface to Cromwell, Part 3 38:00 Read by Leni
Preface to Cromwell, Part 4 36:55 Read by Leni
Preface to Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, Part 1 42:04 Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
Preface to Leaves of Grass, Part 2 34:53 Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
Introduction to The History of English Literature by H. A. Taine, Part 1 29:12 Read by Kalynda
Introduction to The History of English Literature, Part 2 36:00 Read by Kalynda