Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, volume 02


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.6 stars; 19 reviews)

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 second volume contains chapters from "Anacreon" to "Auerbach". (Summary by Leni) (24 hr 5 min)

Chapters

Selected poems 17:55 Read by Andrew David King
Essay on Hans Christian Andersen 11:29 Read by Maria Therese
The Steadfast Tin Soldier 14:37 Read by Bill Mosley
The Teapot 4:27 Read by Maria Therese
The Ugly Duckling 25:11 Read by ravenotation
What the Moon Saw and the Lovers 6:16 Read by hazelra
The Snow Queen - Fourth Story 14:58 Read by MaryAnn
The Nightingale 23:34 Read by Beth Hitesman
Excerpts from "The Story of My Life" and "The Improvisatore" 15:04 Read by Edith van der Have-Raats
Selected poems 11:23 Read by Martin Geeson
Essay on Anglo-Saxon Literature 48:25 Read by Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023)
Excerpts from Beowulf 10:42 Read by Bob Gonzalez
Selected works from Anglo-Saxon Literature 39:49 Read by Sundiata
Selected works 36:21 Read by Leonard Wilson (1930-2024)
Selected excerpts from Antar 38:38 Read by Leonard Wilson (1930-2024)
Essay on Lucius Apuleius 10:33 Read by Leni
The Tale of Aristomenes, the Commercial Traveler, from "The Golden Ass" 23:42 Read by Leni
The Awakening of Cupid, from "The Golden Ass" 14:02 Read by Leni
Selected works 26:11 Read by Edith van der Have-Raats
Essay on the Arabian Nights 17:40 Read by Easton
The Story of the City of Brass, from The Arabian Nights 29:22 Read by Crln Yldz Ksr
The History of King Omar Ben Ennuman, and His Sons Sherkan and Zoulmekan, from … 31:18 Read by Easton
Sindbad the Seaman and Sindbad the Landsman, from The Arabian Nights 31:38 Read by John Kooz
Conclusion of The Thousand Nights and a Night, from The Arabian Nights 28:14 Read by HotConflict
Essay on Arabic Literature 49:17 Read by Easton
Selected poems, from Arabic Literature 12:20 Read by Jean Bascom
Selected poems, from Arabic Literature 24:53 Read by Jean Bascom
Excerpts from the Qu'ran 16:51 Read by Kalynda
Excerpts from the Makamat 10:24 Read by hazelra
The Caliph Omar Bin Abd Al-Aziz and the Poets, from The Arabian Nights 9:55 Read by Martin Gradwell
Essay on Arago 12:02 Read by hazelra
Excerpts from Laplace 43:23 Read by Availle
Selected excerpts 32:23 Read by Martin Geeson
The Argonautic Legend 17:56 Read by Kalynda
Essay on Ludovico Ariosto 11:24 Read by hazelra
Excerpts from Orlando Furioso 30:51 Read by Todd Ulbrich
Essay on Aristophanes 39:48 Read by Martin Geeson
Excerpts from various plays 29:15 Read by Bob Gonzalez
Excerpts from "The Frogs" 12:55 Read by Bob Gonzalez
Essay on Aristotle 27:36 Read by Leonard Wilson (1930-2024)
Selected excerpts 15:57 Read by Kalynda
Selected works 26:15 Read by MaryAnn
Selected poems 12:09 Read by Kalynda
Selected excerpts from The Light of Asia 30:05 Read by Bob Gonzalez
Selected poems 28:16 Read by Bob Gonzalez
Essay on Matthew Arnold 45:52 Read by Leonard Wilson (1930-2024)
Selected works 29:42 Read by Bruce Pirie
Selected poems 42:41 Read by Leonard Wilson (1930-2024)
Essay on Arthurian Legends 39:58 Read by Kara Shallenberg (1969-2023)
Excerpts from Arthurian Legends 17:22 Read by hazelra
Selected works 26:45 Read by MaryAnn
Selected excerpts 21:05 Read by Bruce Pirie
Selected excerpts from the "Deipnosophistae" 28:36 Read by Leni
Selected works 21:13 Read by Kalynda
Excerpts from Aucassin and Nicollete 35:23 Read by Leonard Wilson (1930-2024)
Excerpt from 'The American Ornithological Biography' 14:46 Read by Matthew Reece
Selected excerpt, from Black Forest Village Stories 20:42 Read by Ken Padgitt
Selected excerpts from "On the Heights", part 1 24:07 Read by Ken Padgitt
Selected excerpts from "On the Heights", part 2 26:00 Read by Joyce Martin
Selected excerpts from "On the Heights", part 3 25:45 Read by Joyce Martin

Reviews

Mixed quality


(2.5 stars)

Some good sections and some not so good. Readers of mixed skill and ability to pronounce some words in English. It is annoying they otdered authors alphabetically so there is no connection, continuity or easy transition between sections.