Domain Books

Few books in the last 100 years have had the potential to influence as many lives as does The Public Domain Code Book by Tony Laidig. If you are interested in discovering the hidden gems from times gone past, this is the book for you.

John Brown, a Scottish physician, wrote this moving story in 1858. In it, Brown harks back to his childhood, and his first meeting of the great mastiff Rab. They maintain their friendship for some six years, until Rab's owner, James Noble, brings his wife to the medical school where Brown is studying. Ailie Noble is suffering from breast cancer, and the Surgeon-Master of the school decides to operate. It is 1830, a time before anesthetics and antibiotics.

I don't normally say such things, but I do not believe that it is possible to read this heart-rending story with dry eyes. Dr. John Brown is mainly remembered for this slim book, and it is easy to see why it has survived. The author wrote a book that is highly informative about that earlier and more primitive time, and is also touching at the very core of humanity. This is a wonderful book, one that is often recommended to dog-lovers, and one that I recommend to everyone!

Death follows death when Corey Lane, the son of a man reviled as a renegade returns to Chupadera County at the close of the Spanish-American War. As well as being a writer who captures the the taste and smell of the high ponderosas, open deserts and dark complexities of the American Southwest, Norman Zollinger is a skilled teacher and the head of the Taos School of Writing, a summer program for those who want intense intstruction. In RAGE IN CHUPADERA, Corey Lane must learn about betrayal and love and the tale is an engrossing one.

Oliver Wendell Holmes describes Emerson as an intellectual mystic, as opposed to an emotional one. This probably places Emerson very much in line with Holmes' own temperament -- this Holmes is the father of the famous and intellectually accomplished Supreme Court justice; Holmes, Sr. was himself a medical doctor and man of letters in New England. What Holmes describes as intellectual mysticism as opposed to emotional mysticism shows that Emerson never lost a realistic grounding of his beliefs, and always kept a firm grasp on things such as common sense and self reliance.

Joel Porte introduces the text, written in 1885, talking about the odd choice the rationalist Holmes must have seemed to the Transcendentalist canonisers who would have wanted a more sympathetic character. However, Holmes' overall personality made him an ideal biographer, with much more credibility in the end than a true-believing disciple of Emerson would have had in a similar biographical effort. Both Holmes and Emerson were seekers after truth, and in such had a similar spirit; both also had a good sense for the ridiculous, and managed to remain level-headed among otherwise unstable environments.

Holmes identifies Emerson as belonging to the New England 'Academic' race -- Emerson is a name that is common among academics and ministers generation after generation. This kind of inheritance is more than just cultural in Emerson's view, and in Holmes' view, who before addressing his subject, looks at the several generations back of Emerson's forebears.

Emerson finds inspiration in the things about him -- in nature, in society, and in himself. Emerson has a deep and abiding concern for the transcendent unity of all things, and that there is a spirit in the world that keeps the world together. Emerson was born into a society at a unique period, a coalescing of the first truly American generation of thinkers. While Emerson was not a particularly outstanding student in college, he nonetheless developed ways of writing, thinking and speaking that made him a prominent intellectual figure in his own time, and a mystical/religious figure as well.

Holmes had the advantage of having known Emerson enough to be able to render some personal and candid observations. After giving a general historical narrative of his life, complete with extracts from writings and correpondence, Holmes reflects on various aspects of Emerson's life, including his general personality and habits. Emerson's voice had charm both in personal conversation as well as in lecture and pulpit settings. Emerson often spoke with hesitation, according to Holmes, prefering the momentary silence to find the right word over using the wrong or less-appropriate word. These kinds of observations make Holmes' volume one of real value.

In discussing Emerson's mystical side, Holmes rarely has sympathy, but does not denigrate Emerson's own belief system. 'The knowledge, if knowledge it be, of the mystic is not transmissible,' Holmes states. It cannot be compiled and built upon by others, but is created anew in each seeker. Emerson's view of science is probably similar to Holmes' view of mysticism.

Overall, this is an excellent biography of Emerson, great at giving insight into the author, Holmes, as well.

First off, WHY THE HELL IS THIS THE FIRST REVIEW ON SUCH A VOLUME AS IMPRESSIVE AS THIS!?!?!? Alexander Pope was definatley in the top five of greatest English poets (Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, Wordsworth) and to read his works is like sipping a glass of fine wine, wearing a cool powdered wig, lying back on a sofa listening to Handel. Pope was the coolest hepcat in the hood. He was so great, an age was named after him in 18th century English literature-THE AGE OF POPE (1712-1744)-roughly

But, getting to the point, this is a very comprehensive volume of Pope's prime work. Of course, it's Signet-the best reasonably priced books you can buy. Not only does this great volume contain the complete 5 canto version of The Rape of the Lock (1712-1717), the Essay on Man (1734), Essay on Criticism (1711), The Dunciad (1728) and many more of his brilliant verse satire, the finest of the Neoclassical period (1660-1784).

The author addresses appraisal subjects in the terms and in a context that an appraiser normally communicates. He provides adequate legal explanations and court case reference, so, the appraiser can communicate with their legal counsel & clients. It is extremely insightful for all who are doing any type of court or property tax appraisals. It is slanted to condemnation assignments, however, the appraisal & legal principals are enunciated clearly enough that, they are easily extended to property tax and estate appraisal assignments. It has been helpful to my work my Ad Valorem assignments.

Rebel Guns is the greatest book I have ever read. The men in this story show courage and love, when they recue a lady that is abused by her husband. they go to war to stop him from stealing a wagon train full of ammunition. Will they all get out alive? Read this book and find out.

Since Amazon didn't post an editorial review, here's the description from the back of the book to help you decide if this book is for you: "Torn between blood and honor, the children of the White Indian must take a stand in the fiery battle for America's future ... A new danger -- in a time of internal intrigue and betrayal, America faces the threat of war against an old and powerful foe: the British. At the same time a formidable new enemy has risen in the West. His name is Tecumseh, leader of a great Indian confederation stretching from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Little Hawk, son of the legendary White Indian, has proven his allegiance tohis nation and his bravery in battle; now he must make the painful decision to take up arms in a bloody conflict that has already taken a terrible toll on his own family ..."

Fischel is an economist, and a member of his local zoning board. He also writes smoothly, unlike an economist, and knows a lot of stories. He has done original research into some of the celebrated cases of property and takings, and provides information and analysis that cannot be found anywhere else in the genre.

His scope is limited to land use issues. He does not take up wetlands, endangered species, or the fights over the public lands of the West. On the land use issues, though, his analysis is supurb.

I regard this book as indispensable for anyone seriously interested in the current controversies over property rights.

-- James V. DeLong is the author of PROPERTY MATTERS: HOW PROPERTY RIGHTS ARE UNDER ASSAULT - AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE, published by the Free Press in March 1997.

So far I have read books 1 through 19 and have found them to be very entertaining and enjoyable I recommend the "White Indian Series" of books by Donald Clayton Porter to anyone who enjoys western dramas of epic proportions