Tom's Learning Notes

News from Nowhere is an 1890 novel by William Morris. It is an early work of utopian science fiction, which presents Morris's socialist ideals through the narrator's journey into a future in which they have been realised.

It was partly intended as a riposte to a similar work published the previous year, Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy, which Morris characterised as 'State Communism, worked by the very extreme of national centralization.' In his review of Bellamy's book, Morris argued that 'variety of life is as much an aim of true communism as equality of condition, and that nothing but an union of these two will bring about real freedom.' It is this more pastoral vision which is reflected in News from Nowhere.

News from Nowhere at online book stores
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Free online texts
Gutenberg: News from Nowhere. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats. 
Internet Archive: News from Nowhere (1891 edtion).  EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): News from Nowhere. EPUB, MOBI and HTML formats.
Wikisource: News from Nowhere. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and PDF formats.

Le Morte D'Arthur is a late 15th Century work by Thomas Malory, recounting the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Compiled from earlier English and French romances, it became the definitive English-language version of the Arthurian legend, and later writers such as Mark Twain and T.H. White have freely borrowed from it.

Its popularity partly reflects the comparative readability, especially when presented with modernised spellings, of Malory's prose, which is partway between the Middle English of Chaucer and the early modern language of Shakespeare. Although the narrative is often episodic, it presents a number of great themes, including the relationship between Lancelot and Guinevere, the quest for the holy grail, and making and breaking of the fellowship of the Round Table.

The book was printed in 1485 by William Caxton, but an earlier and rather different manuscript version was discovered in Winchester in 1934. The identity of its author, who describes himself as a 'knight prisoner' has been the subject of much scholarly debate.

Le Morte D'Arthur at online book stores
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Free online texts
Gutenberg: Le Morte D'Arthur Vol I | Vol II. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats. 
Internet Archive: Le Morte D'Arthur. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
Standard Ebooks: Le Morte D'Arthur. AZW3, EPUB, KEPUB and Advanced EPUB formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): Le Morte D'Arthur. EPUB, MOBI and HTML formats.
Wikisource: Le Morte D'Arthur. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and PDF formats.

Barchester Towers is an 1857 novel by Anthony Trollope, the second in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series. It recapitulates many elements of the plot of The Warden, in a more complex form with a broader cast of characters. The high-church arcadia of Barchester Cathedral is threatened this time not by the idealistic John Bold, but by the mendacious Mr Slope.

While Slope is undoubtedly a great satirical creation, this does take away some of the breadth of vision of the earlier book. Trollope has a way of inveigling us to favour his Tory characters when his Whigs have the better arguments, but even this is testimony to the realism of the milieu he creates.

Barchester Towers at online book stores
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Free online texts
Gutenberg: Barchester Towers. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats.
Internet Archive: Barchester Towers. 1952 Zodiac Press edition. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
Standard Ebooks: Barchester Towers. AZW, EPUB and KEPUB formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): Barchester Towers. EPUB, HTML and MOBI formats.
Wikisource: Barchester Towers. HTML and other formats.

The Warden is an 1855 novel by Anthony Trollope.

The title character, Septimus Harding, heads a hospital which supports a dozen retired workingmen, but whose charitable income has swollen over the centuries and now provides him with a very comfortable living.

His right to this money is challenged by John Bold, a young reformer, who involves the law and the press despite his own love for Harding's youngest daughter.

Bold is opposed by Harding's son-in-law, Theophilus Grantly, son of the Bishop of Barchester, and a stern defender of the traditional prerogatives of the church.

The Warden was Trollope's first major literary success, inaugurating the Barchester Chronicles, which returned to the same setting in a fictional cathedral city in the West of England. It is a classic of socio-political observation, despite its ultimately critical view of the reforming impulse which underlay much literary realism.

The Warden at online book stores.
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Free online texts
Gutenberg: The Warden. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats.
Internet Archive: The Warden. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
Standard Ebooks: The Warden. AZW3, EPUB and KEPUB formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): The Warden. EPUB, MOBI and HTML formats.
Wikisource: The Warden. HTML and other formats.
Other Resources
Librivox: The Warden - Public domain audiobook.
The Trollope Society: The Warden
Wikipedia: Anthony Trollope - The Warden
Further reading 
Rabelais - Rev. Grantly keeps a volume of the French satirist hidden in his study.
Charles Dickens - satirised by Trollope as Mr Popular Sentiment
Thomas Carlyle - caricatured as Dr Pessimist Anticant

The Life of Charlemagne or Life of Charles the Great (Latin: Vita Karoli Magni) is a biography of the great Frankish ruler and founder of the Holy Roman Empire. It was completed some time between the death of its subject in 814 CE and the death of its author in 840.

Einhard was a prominent member of the Frankish court, and adhered closely to classical models in a way which vindicated Charlemagne's imperial status. His work is nevertheless still well-regarded as providing a wealth of authentic detail.

The Life of Charlemagne at online book stores
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Free online texts
English translations
Gutenberg: Early Lives of Charlemagne, translated by A. J. Grant. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats.
Internet Archive: Life of the Emperor Karl the Great, translated by William Glaister (1877 edition). EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
Internet Archive: Early Lives of Charlemagne by Einhard and the Monk of St Gall, translated by A. J. Grant. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
Wikisource: Vita Karoli Magni, translated by A. J. Grant. HTML and other formats.
Latin texts
Internet Archive: Einhard's Life of Charlemagne (1915 Clarendon edition). EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
Wikisource: Vita Karoli Magni. HTML and other formats.

The Chronicles (French: Chroniques) of Jean Froissart are a prose history centred on the first part of the Hundred Years' War between England and France but incorporating developments across Western Europe between the 1320s and the end of the Fourteenth Century.

In his early life, Froissart was a courtly poet, patronised by Philippa of Hainault, wife of the English King Henry III. In the Chronicles, he turned to a prose form which was beginning to become the accepted medium for serious history. Nevertheless, his work is animated by the chivalric spirit of earlier romances.

Title at online book stores
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Free online texts

The Confessions is an autobiographical work by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, written between 1765 and 1770. The first volume was published in 1782, four years after his death, while a second appeared in 1789.

The work was the first secular autobiography inaugurating a form which was soon widely imitated.

The Confessions at online book stores
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Free online texts
English translations
Gutenberg: The Confessions(expurgated translation). EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats.
Internet Archive: The Confessions. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): The Confessions, translated by W. Conyngham Mallory. EPUB, MOBI and HTML formats.
Wikisource: The Complete Confessions, translated by S.W. Orson. HTML and other formats.
French texts
Wikisource: Les Confessions. HTML and other formats.
Other Resources
Librivox: The Confessions. Free public domain audiobook.
Wikipedia: Jean-Jacques Rousseau - Confessions (Rousseau)
Further reading
Bloom's Western Canon: The Confessions is listed.
French Language resources 

The Sacred Books of the East is a collection of Asian religious texts translated into English under the Editorship of Max Müller between 1879 and 1910. 

V. 1. The Upanishads, pt. 1
Internet Archive: The Upanishads part 1. Chandogya Upanishad. Talavakara Upanishad. Aitareya Upanishad. Kausitaki Upanishad. Vajasaneyi Upanishad. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 2. Sacred laws of the Aryas, pt. 1
Internet Archive: The Sacred Laws of the Aryas, pt. 1. Âpastamba's Aphorisms on the Sacred Law. Guatama's Institutes of the Sacred Law. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V 3. Sacred books of China, pt. 1 
Internet Archive: The Sacred Books of China - The Texts of Confucianism, pt. 1. The Shu King. The Religious Portion of the Shih King. The Hsiao King. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 4. The Zend-Avesta, pt. 1, The Vendidad
Internet Archive: The Zend-Avesta, pt. 1, The Vendidad, translated by James Darmesteter and L.H. Mills. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 5. Pahlavi texts, pt. 1
Internet Archive: Pahlavi Texts - The Bundahis-Bahman Yast, and Shayast La-Shayast. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 6. The Qur'an, pt. 1
Internet Archive: The Qur'an, pt. 1 - Chapters I to XVI. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 7. The Institutes of Vishnu
Internet Archive: v. 7. The Institutes of Vishnu, translated by Julius Jolly. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 8. The Bhagavadgita with the Sanattsugtiya and the Anugita
Internet Archive: The Bhagavadgita with the Sanattsugtiya and the Anugita, translated by Kashinath Trimbak Telang.  EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 9. The Qur'an, pt. 2
Internet Archive: v. 9. The Qur'an, pt. 2 - Chapters XVII to CXIV, translated by E.H. Palmer. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 10. The Dhammapada
Internet Archive: The Dhammapada, translated by F. Max Müller. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 11. Buddhist Suttas
Internet Archive: Buddhist Suttas, translated by T. W. Rhys Davids. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 12. The Satapatha-Brahmana, pt. 1
Internet Archive: The Satapatha-Brahmana, pt. 1 - Books I and II, translated by Julius Eggeling. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 13. Vinaya texts, pt. 1
Internet Archive: Vinaya texts, pt. 1 - The Pattimokkha and The Mahavagga, I-IV, translated by T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 14. The sacred laws of the Aryas, pt. 2
Internet Archive: The sacred laws of the Aryas, pt. 2 - Vasishtha and Baudhayana, translated by Georg Buhler. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 15. The Upanishads, pt. 2
Internet Archive: The Upanishads, pt. 2 - The Katha Upanishad, The Mundaka Upanishad, The Taittiriyaka Upanishad, The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, The Svetasvatara Upanishad,  The Prasna Upanishad, The Maitrayana-Brahmana Upanishad, translated by F. Max Müller. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

v. 16. The sacred books of China, pt. 2
Internet Archive: The sacred books of China, pt. 2 - The Yi King, translated by James Legge. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 17. Vinaya texts, pt. 2
Internet Archive: Vinaya texts, pt. 2 - The Mahavagga, V-X and the Kullavagga, I-III, translated by T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 18. Pahlavi texts, pt. 2
Internet Archive: Pahlavi texts, pt. 2 - The Dadistan-I Dinik and the Epistles of Manuskihar, translated by E.W. West. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 19. The Fo-Sho-Hing-Tsan-King
Internet Archive: The Fo-Sho-Hing-Tsan-King - A Life of the Buddha, translated from Sanskrit to Chinese by Dharmaraksha and from Chinese into English by Samuel Beal. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 20. Vinaya texts, pt. 3
Internet Archive: Vinaya texts, pt. 3 - The Kullavagga IV-XII, translated by T. W. Rhys Davids and Hermann Oldenberg. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

V. 21. Saddharma-Pundarika
Internet Archive: The Saddharma-Pundarika or The Lotus of the True Law, translated by H. Kern. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

V. 22. Gaina Sutras, pt. 1
Internet Archive: Gaina Sutras, pt. 1 - The Akaranga Sutra and the Kalpa Sutra, translated by Hermann Jacobi. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

V. 23. The Zend-Avesta, pt. 2
Internet Archive: The Zend-Avesta, pt. 2 - The Sirozahs, Yasts and Nyayis, translated by James Darmesteter and L.H. Mills. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 24. Pahlavi texts, pt. 3
Internet Archive: Pahlavi texts, pt. 3 - The Dinah-I Mainog-I Khirad, The Sikand-gumanik Vigar, The Sad Dar, translated by E.W. West. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 25. The Laws of Manu
Internet Archive: The Laws of Manu, Translated by G. Buhler. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 26. Satapatha-Brahmana, pt. 2
Internet Archive: Satapatha-Brahmana, pt. 2 - Books III and IV, translated by Julius Eggeling. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 27. Sacred Books of China, pt. 3: The Texts of Confucianism
Internet Archive: Sacred Books of China, pt. 3: The Texts of Confucianism - The Li Ki, I-X, translated by James Legge. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 28. Sacred books of China, pt. 4: The Texts of Confucianism
Internet Archive: Sacred Books of China, pt. 4: The Texts of Confucianism - The Li Ki, XI-XLVI, translated by James Legge. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

V. 29. The Grihya-sutras, pt. 1: Rules of Vedic Domestic Ceremonies
Internet Archive: The Grihya-sutras, pt. 1 - The Sankhayana-Grihya-Sutra, The Asvalayana-Grihya-Sutra, The Paraskara-Grihya-Sutra and the Khadira-Grihya-Sutra, translated by Hermann Oldenberg. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

V. 30. The Grihya-sutras, pt. 2: Rules of Vedic Domestic Ceremonies
Internet Archive: The Grihya-sutras, pt. 2 - The Gobhila-Grihya-Sutra, the Hiranyakesi-Grihya-Sutra and the Apastamba-Grihya-Sutra, translated by Hermann Oldenberg, with Apastamba's Yagna-Paribhasha-Sutras, translated by F. Max Müller. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

v. 31. The Zend-Avesta, pt. 3
Internet Archive: The Zend-Avesta, pt. 3. The Yasna, Visparad, Âfrînagân, Gâhs, and miscellaneous fragments, translated by L. H. Mills. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

v. 32. Vedic Hymns, pt. 1
Internet Archive: Vedic Hymns, pt. 1. Hymns to the Maruts, Rudra, Vâyu and Vâta, translated by F. Max Müller. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

v. 33. The Minor Law Books, pt. 1
Internet Archive: The Minor Law Books, pt. 1. Narada, Brihaspiti, translated by Julius Jolly. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

v. 34. The Vedanta-Sutras, pt. 1 
Internet Archive: The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Sankarakarya, pt. 1. Adhyâya I–II, translated by George Thibaut. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

v. 35. The Questions of King Milinda, pt. 1
Internet Archive: The Questions of King Milinda, pt. 1, translated by T. W. Rhys Davids. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

v. 36. The Questions of King Milinda, pt. 2
Internet Archive: The Questions of King Milinda, pt. 1, translated by T. W. Rhys Davids. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

v. 37. Pahlavi Texts, pt. 4
Internet Archive: Pahlavi Texts, pt. 4. Contents of the Nasks, translated by E.W. West. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

v. 38. The Vedanta-Sutras, pt. 2
Internet Archive: The Vedanta-Sutras, pt. 2. Adhyâya II-IV. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

v. 39. The Sacred Books of China: Texts of Taoism, pt. 1
Internet Archive: The Texts of Taoism, pt. 1. The Tâo Teh King. The writings of Kwang-Sze, bks I-XVII, translated by James Legge. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

v. 40. Sacred Books of China: Texts of Taoism, pt. 2
Internet Archive: The Texts of Taoism, pt. 2. The Writings of Kwang Tse, bks XVII–XXXIII, the Thâi-shang tractate of actions and their retributions, and appendices, translated by James Legge. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

v. 41. The Satapatha-Brahmana, pt. 3
Internet Archive: Satapatha Brahmana, pt. 3. Mâdhyandina Shakha bks V-VII, translated by Julius Eggeling.  EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

v. 42. Hymns of the Atharva-Veda
Internet Archive: Hymns of the Atharva-Veda, together with extracts from the ritual books and the commentaries, translated by Maurice Bloomfield. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

v. 43. The Satapatha-Brahmana, pt. 4
Internet Archive: Satapatha Brahmana, pt. 4. Mâdhyandina Shakha bks VIII-X, translated by Julius Eggeling. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

v. 44. The Satapatha-Brahmana, pt. 5
Internet Archive: Satapatha Brahmana, pt. 5. Mâdhyandina Shakha bks XI-XIV, translated by Julius Eggeling. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

v. 45. Gaina Sutras, pt. 2
Internet Archive: Gaina Sutras, pt. 2; The Uttarâdhyayana sûtra, The Sûtrakritânga sûtra, translated by Hermann Jacobi. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

v. 46. Vedic Hymns, pt. 2
Internet Archive: Vedic Hymns, pt. 2; Hymns to Agni, Mandalas I-IV, translated by Hermann Oldenberg. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

v. 47. Pahlavi Texts, pt. 5
Internet Archive: Marvels of Zoroastrianism, translated by E.W. West. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

v. 48. Vedanta-Sutras, pt. 3
Internet Archive: Vedanta-Sutras, pt. 3, with the Commentary of Râmânuja. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats.

v. 49. Buddhist Mahayana Texts, pt. 1
Internet Archive: Buddhist Mahâyâna Texts, pt.1, The Buddha-karita of Aśvaghoṣa, translated by E.B. Cowell. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

v. 50. Buddhist Mahayana Texts, pt.2
Internet Archive: Buddhist Mahayana Texts, pt.2, translated by E.B. Cowell. The Longer Sukhâvatî-vyûha, Shorter Sukhâvatî-vyûha, Vagrakkhedikâ, the longer Pragñâ-pâramitâ-hridaya-sûtra, the shorter Pragñâ-pâramitâ-hridaya-sûtra, Amitâyur dhyâna-sûtra. EPUB, MOBI, TXT and PDF formats. 

Other resources

Internet Archive: Sacred Books of the East
Sacred-texts.com:Sacred Books of the East
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): Sacred Books of the East
Wikipedia: Sacred Books of the East
Wikisource: Sacred Books of the East

Emile, or On Education (French: ) is a 1762 work by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, describing the education of its eponymous hero from infancy to manhood.

This proved to be a powerful device for expounding Rousseau's ideas about human nature. The work was banned in France and Geneva because of the heterodox religious views expressed in the section known as The Profession of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar.

A different source of controversy emerged from Book V describes the education of Sophie, a girl who is intended to be Emile's companion, and whose upbringing is largely directed towards that end. The strong critical response from women writers such as Mary Wollstonecraft was itself a reflection of the influence that Emile acquired in educational thought.

Emile at online book stores
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Free online texts
English translations
Gutenberg: Emile, translated by Barbara Foxley. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats.
Internet Archive: Emilius and Sophia - Vol I | Vol II | Vol III | Vol IV. Anonymous 18th Century translation. PDF, EPUB, Kindle and other formats.
Internet Archive: Emile, abridged translation by William H. Payne. PDF, EPUB, Kindle and other formats.
French texts
Wikisource: Émile, ou De l’éducation, multiple editions. HTML and other formats.

A Discourse on the Moral Effects of the Arts and Sciences (French: Discours sur les sciences et les arts) is a 1750 essay by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. It was originally composed in response to a competition announced by the Academy of Dijon,asking whether the restoration of the arts and sciences had contributed to the purification of morals.

Rousseau won the competition, and earned instant notoriety, by answering in the negative. This affirmation of nature over civilisation set him on the intellectual path that would shape much of his later work.

The Discourse on the Arts and Sciences at online book stores
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Free online texts
English translations
Gutenberg: The Social Contract & The Discourses. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats. 
Internet Archive: The Social Contract and the Discourses, translated with an introduction by G.D.H. Cole. Everyman's Library edition (1920). EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): The Discourse on the Arts and Sciences, translated by Ian Johnston. EPUB, MOBI and HTML formats.
French texts
Wikisource: French text. Multiple editions. HTML and other formats.