Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 057

Various

Read by LibriVox Volunteers

Fifteen short nonfiction works in the public domain, independently chosen by the readers. Natural cataclysm is the subject of several readings: the 1899 Alaskan earthquake, which uplifted cliffs at Yakutat Bay 47 feet; a terrifying forest fire in Northern Wisconsin in 1899; the fiery sunsets which followed the volcanic eruption of Krakatoa in 1883; a storm at sea which sank the English frigate Anson in 1807; and the explosion of a hydrogen-filled dirigible over Chicago in 1919. Natural beauty, also a topic, includes a guide to the Antrim coast of Ireland, observations on Black Walnut trees and the communal life of Yellow-Jacket wasps, and an essay on how to paint reflections. Two colloquies of Erasmus explore a young woman's choice to become a nun and the "preposterous judgments" of people who value the names of things more than the Things themselves. Progress--envisioned as the age of electricity; changes in burglary; and Nostradamus' prognostications for the future round out the volume. -summary by Sue Anderson

Elizabeth G. Peckham was the co-author of "Communal Life of Yellow-Jacket Wasps"
Fifty Quatrains of Nostradamus was translated by Theophilus de Garencières
(4 hr 23 min)

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