Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 053

Twenty short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Topics include History–Jocelyn de Brakelond’s 13th century chronicle of the Bury St. Edmund monastery, Lorenzo de Medici’s Florence, the voyage of the Mayflower, and Mark Twain’s essay Stirring Times in Austria; Philosophy–Kierkegaard and Leibniz; Speeches, Sermons, and Diary Entries from Abraham Lincoln, Robert Ingersoll, and Queen Victoria; Literature–a tribute to George Meredith and a critique of Mencken’s The American Language; and Nature and the Natural World–George Mallory outlining the route to the summit of Mt. Everest, Newton’s proof of the elliptical orbits of planets, native bees, pear tree blight, fruit soups, and a description of a grain of wheat. Panegyric on Abraham was translated by Lee M. Hollander. (Summary by Sue Anderson)