en-US Tue, 21 May 2024 16:53:39 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 557658 1392 Robert Burton 0940322668 Mommalibrarian 4
I know there be many base, impudent, brazen-faced rogues, that will Nulla pallescere culpa, be moved with nothing, take no infamy or disgrace to heart, laugh at all ; let them be proved perjured, stigmatized., convict rogues, thieves, traitors, lose their ears, be whipped, branded, carted, pointed at, hissed, reviled, and derided with Ballio the Bawd in Plautus, they rejoice at it, Cantores probos ; "babe and Bombax," what care they? We have too many such in our times,

One complains of want, a second of servitude, ''^another of a secret or incurable disease; of some deformity of body, of some loss, danger, death of friends, shipwreck, persecution, imprisonment, disgrace, repulse, " contumely, calumny, abuse, injury, contempt, ingratitude, unkindness, scoffs, flouts, unfortunate marriage, single life, too many children, no children, false servants, unhappy children, barrenness, banishment, oppression, frustrate hopes and ill-success, &c..

I misplaced Burton's referenced St Augustine on embryos and the soul. I did not save that quote but here is what it said:

Aristotle believed, “soul is imparted to the body in stages as each part is formed, and the specific soul is not actually present until the form is complete.� This “completion of form� takes place on the fortieth day after conception for males, and on the eightieth day for females. Augustine of Hippo (354�430) was a proponent of this view, and Thomas Aquinas (1205�1274) adopted Aristotle’s schema practically in its entirety.


Little gems like this keep me going.

Burton wrote:
a certain Goth well perceived, for when his countrymen came into Greece, and would have burned all their books, he cried out against it, by no means they should do it, "leave them that plague, which in time will consume all their vigour, and martial spirits."

Burton's footnote:
Gaspar Ens Thesaur Polit. Apoteles. 31. Graecis hane pestem relinquite qnae dubium non est, qum brevi omnem is vigorem ereptura Martiosque spiritus exhaustura sit; Ut ad arma tractanda plane inhabiles futuri sint

Google trranslate of footnote:
Gaspar Ent Thesaur Polit. Apoteles 31. Now leave the pestilence to the Greeks, for there is no doubt that it will soon rob the Martians of all their strength and exhaust their spirits; So that they will be completely unfit to handle weapons

The Google AI thought Caspar was a more likely Goth / Germanic name but did not know of such a person. "Apotelesmata: In Greek, "apotelesmata" refers to predictions or outcomes, so "Thesaur Polit. Apotelesmata" might suggest a "Treasury of Political Predictions" or "Outcomes."

,,, learning dulls and diminisheth the spirits, and so per consequens produceth melancholy.

more Burton:
The old are full of aches in their bones, cramps and convulsions, silicernia, dull of hearing, weak sighted, hoary, wrinkled, harsh, so much altered as that they cannot know their own face in a glass, a burthen to themselves and others, after 70 years, " all is sorrow" (as David hath it), they do not live but linger. If they be sound, they fear diseases ; if sick, weary of their lives

silicernia - seems to be a blood sausage served at funeral feasts

I quit reading when he stopped talking about philosophy and the brain and got into the physical anatomy of humors.

I recommend the book to people who want to brush up on their Latin or classical scholars. I do not think there is any breakthrough psychology or neurology in the text.]]> 4.17 1621
author: Robert Burton
name: Mommalibrarian
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1621
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/22
date added: 2024/05/21
shelves: classic, gutenberg-project, madness-brains, menippean-satires, nonfiction, thought-philosophy-criticism, religion
review:
I read a lot of this book, with the help of Google Translate and search. I also used Bard / Gemini frequently. Burton was an absurdly well-read person. From other sites I find that he keep adding and changing through many editions. This is probably why he includes too many examples and too many needless Latin phrases.

I know there be many base, impudent, brazen-faced rogues, that will Nulla pallescere culpa, be moved with nothing, take no infamy or disgrace to heart, laugh at all ; let them be proved perjured, stigmatized., convict rogues, thieves, traitors, lose their ears, be whipped, branded, carted, pointed at, hissed, reviled, and derided with Ballio the Bawd in Plautus, they rejoice at it, Cantores probos ; "babe and Bombax," what care they? We have too many such in our times,

One complains of want, a second of servitude, ''^another of a secret or incurable disease; of some deformity of body, of some loss, danger, death of friends, shipwreck, persecution, imprisonment, disgrace, repulse, " contumely, calumny, abuse, injury, contempt, ingratitude, unkindness, scoffs, flouts, unfortunate marriage, single life, too many children, no children, false servants, unhappy children, barrenness, banishment, oppression, frustrate hopes and ill-success, &c..

I misplaced Burton's referenced St Augustine on embryos and the soul. I did not save that quote but here is what it said:

Aristotle believed, “soul is imparted to the body in stages as each part is formed, and the specific soul is not actually present until the form is complete.� This “completion of form� takes place on the fortieth day after conception for males, and on the eightieth day for females. Augustine of Hippo (354�430) was a proponent of this view, and Thomas Aquinas (1205�1274) adopted Aristotle’s schema practically in its entirety.


Little gems like this keep me going.

Burton wrote:
a certain Goth well perceived, for when his countrymen came into Greece, and would have burned all their books, he cried out against it, by no means they should do it, "leave them that plague, which in time will consume all their vigour, and martial spirits."

Burton's footnote:
Gaspar Ens Thesaur Polit. Apoteles. 31. Graecis hane pestem relinquite qnae dubium non est, qum brevi omnem is vigorem ereptura Martiosque spiritus exhaustura sit; Ut ad arma tractanda plane inhabiles futuri sint

Google trranslate of footnote:
Gaspar Ent Thesaur Polit. Apoteles 31. Now leave the pestilence to the Greeks, for there is no doubt that it will soon rob the Martians of all their strength and exhaust their spirits; So that they will be completely unfit to handle weapons

The Google AI thought Caspar was a more likely Goth / Germanic name but did not know of such a person. "Apotelesmata: In Greek, "apotelesmata" refers to predictions or outcomes, so "Thesaur Polit. Apotelesmata" might suggest a "Treasury of Political Predictions" or "Outcomes."

,,, learning dulls and diminisheth the spirits, and so per consequens produceth melancholy.

more Burton:
The old are full of aches in their bones, cramps and convulsions, silicernia, dull of hearing, weak sighted, hoary, wrinkled, harsh, so much altered as that they cannot know their own face in a glass, a burthen to themselves and others, after 70 years, " all is sorrow" (as David hath it), they do not live but linger. If they be sound, they fear diseases ; if sick, weary of their lives

silicernia - seems to be a blood sausage served at funeral feasts

I quit reading when he stopped talking about philosophy and the brain and got into the physical anatomy of humors.

I recommend the book to people who want to brush up on their Latin or classical scholars. I do not think there is any breakthrough psychology or neurology in the text.
]]> 1275404 Nightmare Abbey presents a biting critique of the texts we view as central to British romanticism.]]> 248 Thomas Love Peacock 155111416X Mommalibrarian 5
adhibiting
unconsentaneous
'cogibundity of cogitation'
antithalian perlustrate
etc.

I think that someone more familiar with the philosophies and personalities of the early 1800s would be rolling on the floor. There are many great quotes online. One of my favorites:

Mr. Flosky - "I should be sorry if you could; I pity the man who can see the connection of his own ideas. Still more do I pity him, the connection of whose ideas any other person can see. Sir, the great evil is, that there is too much common-place light in our moral and political literature; and light is a great enemy to mystery, and mystery is a great friend to enthusiasm. Now the enthusiasm for abstract truth is an exceedingly fine thing, as long as the truth, which is the object of the enthusiasm, is so completely abstract as to be altogether out of the reach of the human faculties..."

Wikipedia states the Major themes
* The predilection of contemporary poets and novelists for morbid subjects and gothic settings.
* The affected misanthropy, ennui and world-weariness of contemporary writers, philosophers and intellectuals.
* The contemporary interest in philosophical systems that are unworldly, transcendental, and abstruse.
* The conflict between art and science.
* The contrast between the Classical and the Romantic.

Find a copy online in Project Gutenberg: ]]> 3.46 1818
author: Thomas Love Peacock
name: Mommalibrarian
average rating: 3.46
book published: 1818
rating: 5
read at: 2014/04/13
date added: 2024/03/27
shelves: gutenberg-project, menippean-satires
review:
"Nightmare Abbey is a Gothic topical satire in which the author pokes light-hearted fun at the romantic movement in contemporary English literature, in particular its obsession with morbid subjects, misanthropy and transcendental philosophical systems. Most of the characters in the novel are based on historical figures whom Peacock wishes to pillory." Sparks Notes. I found this book pretty hilarious even though I had to look up many words and foreign phrases.

adhibiting
unconsentaneous
'cogibundity of cogitation'
antithalian perlustrate
etc.

I think that someone more familiar with the philosophies and personalities of the early 1800s would be rolling on the floor. There are many great quotes online. One of my favorites:

Mr. Flosky - "I should be sorry if you could; I pity the man who can see the connection of his own ideas. Still more do I pity him, the connection of whose ideas any other person can see. Sir, the great evil is, that there is too much common-place light in our moral and political literature; and light is a great enemy to mystery, and mystery is a great friend to enthusiasm. Now the enthusiasm for abstract truth is an exceedingly fine thing, as long as the truth, which is the object of the enthusiasm, is so completely abstract as to be altogether out of the reach of the human faculties..."

Wikipedia states the Major themes
* The predilection of contemporary poets and novelists for morbid subjects and gothic settings.
* The affected misanthropy, ennui and world-weariness of contemporary writers, philosophers and intellectuals.
* The contemporary interest in philosophical systems that are unworldly, transcendental, and abstruse.
* The conflict between art and science.
* The contrast between the Classical and the Romantic.

Find a copy online in Project Gutenberg:
]]> 18913200 48 Hilaire Belloc Mommalibrarian 3 4.00 1896
author: Hilaire Belloc
name: Mommalibrarian
average rating: 4.00
book published: 1896
rating: 3
read at: 2020/09/16
date added: 2020/09/16
shelves: childrens-literature, gutenberg-project
review:
Stars are for rhymes and illustrations. Has not aged well - animals are to shoot.
]]> 19465850 70 Oliver Herford Mommalibrarian 3 3.25 1899
author: Oliver Herford
name: Mommalibrarian
average rating: 3.25
book published: 1899
rating: 3
read at: 2020/09/16
date added: 2020/09/16
shelves: childrens-literature, gutenberg-project
review:
Good drawings. Would acquaint the young with the important from a particular viewpoint in the past. My favorite page: "O is for Oliver, casting aspersion on Omar, that awfully dissolute Persian, Thought secretly longing to join the diversion."
]]> 20593070 54 Maurice Baring 1484816455 Mommalibrarian 4 3.40 2013
author: Maurice Baring
name: Mommalibrarian
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2016/09/03
date added: 2016/09/03
shelves: gutenberg-project, historical-fiction
review:
Read on Project Gutenberg - very humorous. I had to do some Google research as all the characters were not known to me. The 'diary' of the young George Washington was especially humorous.
]]> 218947
Jean Racine’s last and greatest tragedy is based on a legend that has intrigued dramatists as far back as Euripides and Seneca. Phaedra, the second wife of Theseus, the heroic king of Athens, is consumed with an illicit passion for Hippolytus, her stepson.

Given word that her husband is dead, she confesses her love for Hippolytus and is rebuffed. When Theseus turns out to be alive after all, Phaedra connives in a lie to convince her husband that it was Hippolytus who attempted to seduce her. The stage is set for fury and grief, guilt and remorse.

In his seventeenth-century interpretation, Racine replaced the ornate, stylized tragedy based on classic Greek form with human-scale characters and actions convincingly motivated by human emotions. Acclaimed translator Richard Wilbur describes in his lucid, informed introduction the method by which he remained faithful to Racine’s form and intention. The result is a triumph of translation, poetry, and theater.]]> 128 Jean Racine 015675780X Mommalibrarian 5
I was compelled to read it to the very end.]]> 3.74 1677
author: Jean Racine
name: Mommalibrarian
average rating: 3.74
book published: 1677
rating: 5
read at: 2012/06/08
date added: 2012/06/08
shelves: gutenberg-project, classic, play, madness-brains
review:
Very short and cleanly written version in Project Guttenberg Translator: Robert Bruce Boswell Release Date: October 30, 2008

I was compelled to read it to the very end.
]]> 917912 80 Ronald Firbank 0715610945 Mommalibrarian 3 Author: Ronald Firbank
* A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook *


The title is your first clue. This book is totally politically incorrect. Set in some unnamed very warm Colonial country, every one, European and native is described as foolish and society climbing. The natives are given especially vivid treatment as they copy the European ways. The dialect and descriptions will offend most readers.

So what sort of humor does the book hold and why was it considered a classic in the 1920s (published 1925)? Toward the later half of the book at a ball the author comments on the flowers, naming and describing them including "Ronald Firbank (a dingy lilac blossom of rarity untold) . . . were those [flowers] that claimed the greatest respect from a few discerning connoisseurs."

or consider this scrap of dialog:

"I think I'm going in."

"Oh, why?"

"Because," Madame Ruiz repressed a yawn, "because, my dear, I feel
armchairish."]]> 3.40 1924
author: Ronald Firbank
name: Mommalibrarian
average rating: 3.40
book published: 1924
rating: 3
read at: 2011/03/06
date added: 2011/03/06
shelves: asian-african-indian, gutenberg-project
review:
Sorrow in Sunlight [alternatively entitled 'Prancing Nigger'] (1925)
Author: Ronald Firbank
* A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook *


The title is your first clue. This book is totally politically incorrect. Set in some unnamed very warm Colonial country, every one, European and native is described as foolish and society climbing. The natives are given especially vivid treatment as they copy the European ways. The dialect and descriptions will offend most readers.

So what sort of humor does the book hold and why was it considered a classic in the 1920s (published 1925)? Toward the later half of the book at a ball the author comments on the flowers, naming and describing them including "Ronald Firbank (a dingy lilac blossom of rarity untold) . . . were those [flowers] that claimed the greatest respect from a few discerning connoisseurs."

or consider this scrap of dialog:

"I think I'm going in."

"Oh, why?"

"Because," Madame Ruiz repressed a yawn, "because, my dear, I feel
armchairish."
]]> 1001312
With his traveling book wagon named Parnassus, he moves through the New England countryside of 1915 on an itinerant mission of enlightenment.

Mifflin's delight in books and authors is infectious--with his singular philosophy and bright eyes, he comes to represent the heart and soul of the book world.

But a certain spirited spinster, disgruntled with her life, may have a hand in changing all that.

This roaring good adventure yarn is spiced with fiery roadside brawls, heroic escapes from death, the most groaning boards in the history of Yankee cookery, and a rare love story--not to mention a glimpse at a feminist perspective from the early 1900s.]]> 152 Christopher Morley 1414270658 Mommalibrarian 4 gutenberg-project Project Gutenberg ]]> 4.08 1917
author: Christopher Morley
name: Mommalibrarian
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1917
rating: 4
read at: 2010/05/15
date added: 2010/05/15
shelves: gutenberg-project
review:
What a surprising little book. A book peddler with a horse drawn 'caravan' living area and book displays drives up to the rural New England farm of the author of Paradise Regained, an elegy to country life, and his unmarried sister. An adventure ensues.
Project Gutenberg
]]> 3334055 The Rubáiyát of a Persian Kitten by Oliver Herford
New York · Charles Scribner’s Sons Mcmvi
Copyright, 1904, by Oliver Herford]]> Oliver Herford Mommalibrarian 3 3.00 1904
author: Oliver Herford
name: Mommalibrarian
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1904
rating: 3
read at: 2008/05/01
date added: 2010/03/13
shelves: childrens-literature, poetry, gutenberg-project
review:

]]> 3334036 68 0548890110 Mommalibrarian 4 The Kitten's Garden of Verses by Oliver Herford
New York · Charles Scribner’s Sons
1911

I always loved Robert Louis Stevenson's Childs Garden of Verses and familiarity with it will enhance your enjoyment of this well illustrated book. Love of cats will work as well.]]> 4.05 1911
author: Birmingham Fellow in English Literature of the Long Nineteenth Century Oliver Herford
name: Mommalibrarian
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1911
rating: 4
read at: 2008/05/01
date added: 2008/05/21
shelves: childrens-literature, poetry, gutenberg-project
review:

The Kitten's Garden of Verses by Oliver Herford
New York · Charles Scribner’s Sons
1911

I always loved Robert Louis Stevenson's Childs Garden of Verses and familiarity with it will enhance your enjoyment of this well illustrated book. Love of cats will work as well.
]]>