A Letter from Mr. Voltaire to M. Jean Jacques Rousseau. (Appendix: Extracts from a book just published, entitled, Anecdotes relative to the persecution of J. J. Rousseau.) Fr. and Eng

A Letter from Mr. Voltaire to M. Jean Jacques Rousseau. (Appendix: Extracts from a book just published, entitled, Anecdotes relative to the persecution of J. J. Rousseau.) Fr. and Eng PDF Author: Voltaire
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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The Afterlives of Animals

The Afterlives of Animals PDF Author: Samuel J. M. M. Alberti
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
ISBN: 0813932084
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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In the quiet halls of the natural history museum, there are some creatures still alive with stories, whose personalities refuse to be relegated to the dusty corners of an exhibit. The fame of these beasts during their lifetimes has given them an iconic status in death. More than just museum specimens, these animals have attained a second life as historical and cultural records. This collection of essays—from a broad array of contributors, including anthropologists, curators, fine artists, geographers, historians, and journalists—comprises short "biographies" of a number of famous taxidermized animals. Each essay traces the life, death, and museum "afterlife" of a specific creature, illuminating the overlooked role of the dead beast in the modern human-animal encounter through practices as disparate as hunting and zookeeping. The contributors offer fresh examinations of the many levels at which humans engage with other animals, especially those that function as both natural and cultural phenomena, including Queen Charlotte’s pet zebra, Maharajah the elephant, and Balto the sled dog, among others. Readers curious about the enduring fascination with animals who have attained these strange afterlives will be drawn to the individual narratives within each essay, while learning more about the scientific, cultural, and museological contexts of each subject. Ranging from autobiographical to analytical, the contributors’ varying styles make this delightful book a true menagerie. Contributors: Samuel J. M. M. Alberti, Royal College of Surgeons * Sophie Everest, University of Manchester * Kate Foster * Michelle Henning, University of the West of England, Bristol * Hayden Lorimer, University of Glasgow * Garry Marvin, Roehampton University, London * Henry Nicholls * Hannah Paddon * Merle Patchett * Christopher Plumb, University of Manchester * Rachel Poliquin * Jeanne Robinson, Glasgow Museums * Mike Rutherford, University of the West Indies * Richard C. Sabin, Natural History Museum * Richard Sutcliffe, Glasgow Museums * Geoffrey N. Swinney, University of Edinburgh

A Wicked Company

A Wicked Company PDF Author: Philipp Blom
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
ISBN: 1551995824
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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The acclaimed author of The Vertigo Years tells the remarkable story of the Parisian salon that brought together the greatest minds of the 18th century - Rousseau, Hume, Diderot, Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin - and changed the world forever. The Paris salon of Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach - where friendship and radical philosophy flourished throughout the 1760s - stands as a seminal event in Western history. Over wine-soaked dinner parties, the finest minds of the Western world matched wits and scandalized one another with their radical ideas. Holbach's house became an epicenter of free thinking, a place like no other in repressive eighteenth-century Europe, frequented by men and women united by their love of intellectual freedom, their contempt for the conventional, and often the danger of persecution. It was a moment of astonishing radicalism in European thought, so uncompromising and bold that its vision has still not been fully realized. In A Wicked Company, acclaimed historian Philipp Blom describes the fortunes of this group of friends: writers of genius all, full of wit and courage, but also personal contradictions, doubts, conflicts of conscience, and their fair share of arguments and love affairs. Their bracing, liberating, humanist vision bursts free of the page in Blom's telling, and their analysis of our culture remains as valid as it was then. A startlingly relevant work of narrative history, Wicked Company forces us to confront with new eyes modern debates about our society and its future.

Napoleon's Library

Napoleon's Library PDF Author: Louis N Sarkozy
Publisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 1399055275
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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This book will surprise readers with the literary depths of Napoleon Bonaparte, exploring the enigmatic emperor's intimate relationship with books and history, going far beyond his more militaristic and imperial fame. Napoleon Bonaparte held absolute political power in France and his influence stretched across Europe and beyond. Yet he remained – between leading his armies and ruling over a vast empire – an indefatigable reader who even carried libraries into battle. Bonaparte’s love of the written word, birthed in childhood and nurtured as an adolescent and young adult, never left him. He was a lover of literature for its own sake – often swooning over melodramatic love stories – but he also understood the value of books as instruments of power. Before his campaigns, he poured over dozens of texts relating to the relevant theaters’ geography, population, trade, and history. When contemplating grave decisions, such as his divorce to Empress Josephine, he consulted the historical record for useful precedents to justify and inform his actions. To bolster his troop’s morale during challenging times, he constantly referenced history in his proclamations, making his contemporaries feel as if they were actively shaping history. They were. The library of an individual is the key to his mind. Behind the grandiose paintings of the victorious conqueror and the constructions of the propagandist, stands the reader. This book is an attempt to glimpse Napoleon’s character without the veneer of imperial glory. What was he like, alone at night by his fireplace? What thoughts percolated in the mind of the ambitious 20-year-old, isolated in a little room while theorizing about man’s happiness? Who are the literary and historical figures which can claim to have had impacted his life? Who were his favorite authors? Through this book the reader will embark on a literary promenade with the great general and statemen. In these pages are found the emperor’s favorite authors. And with them, the key to understanding his mind.

The Quarterly Review

The Quarterly Review PDF Author: William Gifford
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English literature
Languages : en
Pages : 598

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“The” Quarterly Review

“The” Quarterly Review PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 594

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Sir Brooke Boothby

Sir Brooke Boothby PDF Author: Sjaak Zonneveld
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 552

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Life of Voltaire

Life of Voltaire PDF Author: Francis Espinasse
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Sotheran's Price Current of Literature

Sotheran's Price Current of Literature PDF Author: Henry Sotheran Ltd
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 676

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Catalogue of the Printed Books in the Library of the British Museum

Catalogue of the Printed Books in the Library of the British Museum PDF Author: British Library
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 932

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