The Natural History of Pliny the Elder is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire. The full work consists of 37 books, covering more than 20.000 topics ranging from astronomy and mathematics to botany and precious stones. The book became a model for later encyclopaedias and gives a fascinating overview of the state of scientific knowledge almost 2000 years ago. This version of the Natural History has been adapted for a younger audience. This second volume contains Book III and Book IV out of a total of 9 books. - Summary by Foon

"There is an opportunity of knowing in brilliant English translations much of the poetry of China and Japan, of India and Persia; and Arabic poetry is accessible ; but I believe this book to be the first general English anthology of Asiatic verse. It is haphazard, as such books must be until some polyglot scholar gives a whole life to the matter. Variety was the only aim possible in a space so small, and therefore I have selected love poems of different centuries and of both primitive and subtle peoples." - Summary by Author

Fergus Hume was a prolific writer of Victorian murder mysteries and The Clock Struck One is another great example of his inventive plots. Julian Edermont living in near seclusion for the last 20 years fearful of an unknown assailant is beaten to death in his study following an argument with his ward's fiance Dr. Allen Scott. The secret revealed to Allen during this argument is such that he breaks off his engagement to Dora refusing to reveal the cause. Since those around her seem unwilling to share what they know it is up to Dora to discover the truth and unmask the murderer of her guardian. - Summary by Celine Major

Betty and Esther are having another camping adventure in the New Hampshire hills, but this time it is the dead of winter. They are stuck with an overturned sleigh in the middle of a snowstorm! That is just the beginning of the problems that need to be overcome by these two smart girls!

This is a volume of humorous poems by Australian poet Henry Lawson. - Summary by Carolin

Early twentieth century travel book about Alaska with stories of major cities, Indian tribes, customs and geography of what would become our 49th state. - Summary by BettyB.

This book is a collection of small essays to help parents better understand their children and offer help to parents in the task of raising them. To quote from the preface, “It is hoped that the very simplicity and homeliness of method of this book may help eager, devoted, perplexed parents to realize that similarity in apparent diversity which underlies the experiences of different people, to perceive more clearly that the small affairs of childhood are really very large in their significance and that our way of dealing with them concerns far more than the present moment.” Summary by SweetHome.

The young, intelligent Mary discovers that through an act of will she can transform her appearance to make herself incredibly beautiful. But will her newfound identity be all that she hopes? This recording is from the novella’s original publication in The Savoy in August and September 1896.

When Roy Walton becomes the new director of the UN division of population control, after the director is assassinated, he becomes the most hated man in the world. Being Director involved him in not only population control, but a terra-forming project on Venus, and negotiations with aliens. Not only that, but some people were trying to kill him. To stay alive, he had to become The Master of Life and Death. Summary by Dale Grothman.

volunteers bring you 21 recordings of Knight - Errant by Madison Cawein. This was the Weekly Poetry project for February 3, 2019. ------ Cawein's poetry allied his love of nature with a devotion to earlier English and European literature, mythology, and classical allusion. This certainly encompassed much of T. S. Eliot's own interest, but whereas Eliot was also seeking a modern language and form, Cawein strove to maintain a traditional approach. Although he gained an international reputation, he has been eclipsed as the genre of poetry in which he worked became increasingly outmoded. - Summary by Wikipedia

Longfellow's first collection of early poems, published in 1895, with a short biography by the editor, a chronological list of his works, plus analysis and commentary on Longfellow's themes, style, and talent, by various authors.

volunteers bring you 22 recordings of A Psalm Of Life by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for February 3, 2019. ------ This poem was first published in the October 1838 issue of The Knickerbocker, a New York City magazine. It then appeared in Longfellow's first published book of poems, Voices Of The Night, in 1839. It is an upbeat psalmists answer to the biblical psalm that we are but dust heading for the grave, urging us instead to be heroic, to make the most of our lives, and set a good example for others to follow.

If you have ever wondered why Spain was first to “settle” the Golden State, this book is for you. Professor Chapman has produced a comprehensive and highly entertaining popular history of “the Californias,” beginning with a nod to geography and the native races and carrying on through to the arrival of Old Glory in 1848. What might in less capable hands have proved a heavy historical loaf to digest is lightened and leavened with the yeast of “interesting incident” throughout. Consider...

The Exciting adventures of a beautiful Texan debutante. She was raised in New York City high society and attended the best schools. When her mother died she felt the urge to go out west to join her father, whom she never knew, on their massive ranch. What followed were river boat journeys, steamboat gamblers, desperadoes, con artists, Mexican military and Indian attacks. She rode out west under the protection of the Texan Rangers and US military only to discover the ultimate deception when she reached the ranch!

This is the first Lucy and Dora story. A charming story about Lucy and Dora, two little girls in a New England town. They are not really sisters, but soon everyone forgot that fact. The Silver Bear is a necklace, treasured by the girls.

"He was a stranger in Matcham, a 'foreigner' as the villagers called such alien visitors. He had never been in the village before, knew nothing of its inhabitants or its surroundings, its customs, ways, local prejudices, produce, trade, scandals, hates, loves, subserviencies, gods, or devils , and yet henceforward he was to be closely allied with Matcham, for a certain bachelor uncle had lately died and left him a small estate within a mile of the village."

Our ethereal man with wings, whom we met in Riallaro, continues his tale about Limanora which is a Utopian Island created as an experiment in Eugenics. Medical and technological advances have led to a central Power Source, computers, and weather control to name a few. - Summary by kirk202

Lady Truman received word fourteen months ago that her husband, Sir George Truman, has died in battle. Now a very eligible widow with a large estate, she has more suitors than she knows what to do with. As if that wasn't enough, her house is now being haunted at night by the horrible and ghostly sound of a drum, apparently caused by the restless spirit of her husband. When an old man arrives who claims to be able to lay the spirit to rest, she is so desperate for relief that she determines to give him a chance...

Con Price recalls the 1870s through the 1940s, growing up in Iowa and South Dakota before heading out on a cattle drive into Montana. Never dull, his life was full of experiences from cattle drives to Indian encounters to cattle wars to frontier romance. - Summary by Gary Clayton

Edmund Burke was an Irish statesman, economist, and philosopher. Born in Dublin, he moved to London in 1750 and later served as a member of parliament between 1766 and 1794 in the House of Commons of Great Britain. He belonged to the Whig Party.Burke favored underpinning virtues with manners in society and stressed the importance of religious institutions for the moral stability and good of the state. He was an opponent to slavery and expressed appreciation for the complaints of the colonists in America before the outbreak of Revolution.This collection of his writings is the first of twelve available online at Project Gutenberg.

This book contains 2 poetry bundles by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, containing many better- or lesser-known poems. The poems are recorded by a single reader , with the exception of a few poems that are written as small theatrical plays, which are additionally read by Nemo and Larry Wilson.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twelve short stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring his fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Each of the stories are told in a first-person style from the point of view of Dr. Watson, Holmes' associate and sidekick. The stories detail Holmes and Watson's various adventures in solving cases that befuddle others within law enforcement. This book is a collection of twelve of Doyle's favorite Sherlock Holmes stories. - Summary by TheBookBro

volunteers bring you 18 recordings of Michael Angelo's "Dawn" by Margaret Steele Anderson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for February 10, 2019. ------ Dawn is a sculpture by Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo, executed for the Medici Chapel in the area of the tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, Italy. It is part of a second pair , which followed Day and Night in his work on the Chapel. - Summary by Wikipedia

A travel journal to the Scilly Islands written in the Nineteenth Century. It records Scillonian legends and folklore. There are brief diversions into period racism. -Summary by Timothy Ferguson

A collection of short stories and poems for children, filled with sweet but simple life lessons. - Summary by Campbell Schelp

Published in 1923, Day Dreams is a collection of poems written by Hollywood screen icon Rudolph Valentino. Authored during Valentino’s court-imposed exile from the film industry, where a protracted legal battle with Famous Players-Lasky prevented him from acting, this collection channels much of the actor’s fear, frustration, desire, and his all-encompassing need for escapism. In his own words, this collection helped Valentino "forget the tediousness of worldly strife and the boredom of jurisprudence's pedantic etiquette." This fascinating piece of Hollywood ephemera gives us a snapshot of the famed "Latin Lover" at his most mediative and romantic.

The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis , is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters, considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Beta Israel , where it is known as the Book of Division . Jubilees is considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches. It is also not considered canonical within Judaism outside of the Beta Israel. - Summary by Wikipedia

A group of girls send gifts and letters to one whom they think to be a young woman like them. "Christie" is really a poor young bachelor tending his orange grove in sunny Florida. Through his correspondence with Hazel he becomes a Christian, and falls in love with her. What will happen when she takes a trip south to meet her dear pen-pal? - Summary by LikeManyWaters

The State of the Union address is a speech presented by the President of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress, typically delivered annually. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the President to outline his legislative agenda and national priorities. This album contains recordings of addresses from Rutherford B. Hayes and Chester A. Arthur. - Summary by Wikipedia

From its man-made origins as a consequence of medieval peat excavations, the Broads of Norfolk and Suffolk have evolved into a natural ecosystem, providing habitat for a diverse range of flora and fauna , as well as a means of livelihood for the inhabitants of this region. In the company of the book’s author, a self-taught lifelong naturalist and undisputed expert of the Broads , we discover how the life of the Broads unfolds over the course of a single year. So, why not listen in, and join us...

volunteers bring you 26 recordings of Picture-Books In Winter by Robert Louis Stevenson. This was the Weekly Poetry project for February 17, 2019. ------ Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist and travel writer, most noted for Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and A Child's Garden of Verses. - Summary by Wikipedia

A young man travels to South Africa to find his Mother and sister. He wants to be a clergyman and a farmer when he arrives there. This story includes accounts of the Zulu-Boer wars. - Summary by Ingrid Kennedy