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Day 82 - Harvard Classics - 90 Day Challenge





Nov 24: Darwin's ORIGIN OF SPECIES


The Book that Upset Tennessee

The signal for the beginning of a great controversy, still raging,
was the publication of Darwin's "Origin of Species." This was
the first complete statement of the evolution theory, which had
been privately advanced but never publicly taught. A new epoch
in science dates from this great work.

Read from Darwin's ORIGIN OF SPECIES .............     Vol. 11, pp. 23-30



Nov 25: Dekker's THE SHOEMAKER'S HOLIDAY


Cupid as a Shoemaker

We are indebted to Thomas Dekker for one of the most humorous
characters in all Elizabethan literature; namely, Simon Eyre, an
old shoemaker whose affairs became hilariously involved with
those of the gentry.

Read from Dekker's THE SHOEMAKER'S HOLIDAY .........    Vol. 47, pp. 469-483



Nov 26: Lamb ON THE TRAGEDIES OF SHAKESPEARE


Shakespeare Should Be Heard

Charles Lamb, favorite essayist, thought that no stage could do
justice to Shakespeare's tragedies. He advocated reading the
plays, and with the imagination costuming the players and building
the gorgeous scenery in a way equaled by no scene painter
or costumer.

Read: Lamb ON THE TRAGEDIES OF SHAKESPEARE ..............    Vol. 27, pp. 299-310



Nov 27: Sir Thomas More's UTOPIA


What Land is This?

In wondrous Utopia pearls and precious stones were used as
playthings for little children. Gold rings and bracelets were only
worn by outcasts, while great golden chains shackled criminals
and felons. When ambassadors from foreign lands came in fine
raiment, the Utopians treated the plainest dressed as the greatest;
the others seemed to them like children.

Read from Sir Thomas More's UTOPIA ...............    Vol. 36, pp. 191-204