Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, volume 12


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The Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, is a work of enormous proportions. Setting out with the simple goal of offering "American households a mass of good reading", the editors drew from literature of all times and all kinds what they considered the best pieces of human writing, and compiled an ambitious collection of 45 volumes (with a 46th being an index-guide). Besides the selection and translation of a huge number of poems, letters, short stories and sections of books, the collection offers, before each chapter, a short essay about the author or subject in question. In many cases, chapters contemplate not one author, but certain groups of works, organized by nationality, subject or period; there is, thus, a chapter on Accadian-Babylonian literature, one on the Holy Grail, and one on Chansons, for example.

The result is a collection that holds the interest, for the variety of subjects and forms, but also as a means of first contact with such famous and important authors that many people have heard of, but never read, such as Abelard, Dante or Lord Byron. According to the editor Charles Dudley Warner, this collection "is not a library of reference only, but a library to be read."

This twelfth volume contains chapters from "Diderot" to "Duruy". (Summary by Leni) (16 hr 53 min)

Chapters

Excerpt from Rameau's Nephew by Denis Diderot 39:47 Read by Colleen McMahon
Selected works by Franz von Dingelstedt 17:05 Read by ToddHW
Selected excerpts by Diogenes Laertius 31:04 Read by Owlivia
Selected excerpts by Isaac D'Israeli 26:36 Read by Rita Boutros
Selected poems by Sydney Dobell 16:11 Read by Larry Wilson
Selected works by Austin Dobson 32:55 Read by Rita Boutros
The Race, from Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates, by Mary Mapes Dodge 33:44 Read by Colleen McMahon
Selected poems by John Donne 21:58 Read by WendyKatzHiller
Feodor Mikhailovitch Dostoévsky by Isabel Hapgood 27:14 Read by Rita Boutros
Letter from Varvara Dobrosyeloff to Makar Dyevushkin from Poor People by Dostoe… 25:23 Read by Rita Boutros
Letter from Makar Dyevushkin to Varvara Alexievna Dobrosyeloff from Poor People… 14:19 Read by Rita Boutros
The Bible Reading, from Crime and Punishment, by Dostoevsky 19:05 Read by Rita Boutros
Selected excerpts by Edward Dowden 31:20 Read by Sky Asimaru
Selected works, by A. Conan Doyle, part 1 28:42 Read by Owlivia
Selected works, by A. Conan Doyle, part 2 22:55 Read by Owlivia
Selected works by Holger Drachmann 29:26 Read by Sky Asimaru
Selected poems by Joseph Rodman Drake 26:27 Read by czandra
Selected excerpts by John William Draper 39:52 Read by roselbex
Selected poems by Michael Drayton 16:50 Read by TR Love
Selected excerpts by Gustave Droz 32:37 Read by Rita Boutros
Selected excerpts from Tropical Africa by Henry Drummond 45:26 Read by Availle
Selected excerpts by William Drummond of Hawthornden 19:22 Read by Bill Mosley
John Dryden by Thomas R. Lounsbury 37:54 Read by Chris Pyle
Selected poems by John Dryden 33:59 Read by Chris Pyle
Street Scene during the Commune from The Convulsions of Paris, by Maxime Du Camp 17:00 Read by Rita Boutros
Alexandre Dumas Senior by Andrew Lang 38:23 Read by Rita Boutros
The Cure for the Dormice that Eat Peaches from The Count of Monte Cristo by Ale… 19:44 Read by Rita Boutros
The Shoulder of Athos, the Belt of Porthos, and the Handkerchief of Aramis from… 16:16 Read by ToddHW
Defense of the Bastion St.-Gervais from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas… 12:35 Read by Rita Boutros
Consultation of the Musketeers from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Sen… 18:17 Read by Rita Boutros
The Man in the Iron Mask from The Viscount of Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas Sen… 9:32 Read by Rita Boutros
A Trick is Played on Henry III. by Aid of Chicot from The Lady of Monsoreau by … 8:27 Read by Rita Boutros
Alexandre Dumas Junior by Francisque Sarcey 24:45 Read by ToddHW
Selected excerpts by Alexandre Dumas Junior, part 1 26:32 Read by ToddHW
Selected excerpts by Alexandre Dumas Junior, part 2 25:13 Read by ToddHW
Selected excerpts by Alexandre Dumas Junior, part 3 25:27 Read by ToddHW
Selected excerpts from Trilby by George Du Maurier 35:13 Read by Rita Boutros
Selected excerpts from Peter Ibbetson and The Martian, by George Du Maurier 35:21 Read by Rita Boutros
Selected poems by William Dunbar 15:22 Read by Rita Boutros
Selected excerpts from The History of Rome by Jean Victor Duruy 15:15 Read by Availle