Tom's Learning Notes

The Eclogues (Latin: Eclogae or Bucolica)  are a collection of ten pastoral poems by the Roman poet Virgil. Though modelled on the Greek Idylls of Theocritus, they are innovative in their use of the form for social commentary, contrasting the Arcadian ideal with the troubled society of late republican Rome.

Some of the rural conflicts portrayed may reflect Virgil's own possible eviction from his farm during the Civil Wars. Eclogue 4, which prophesied the birth of a child who would initiate a new era, may have been intended in praise of Octavian. During the Middle Ages, it was widely interpreted in Christian terms.

The Eclogues at online book stores
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Free online texts
Bilingual editions
Loebulus. L063N - Virgil -- Eclogues. Georgics. Aeneid, Books 1-6. PDF of public domain Loeb edition in Latin and English.
English translations
Gutenberg: The Bucolics and Eclogues. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats.
Internet Archive: The Eclogues of Virgil, translated by Samuel Palmer. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
Poetry in Translation: The Eclogues, translated by A.S. Kline (2001). Multiple formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): The Eclogues of Virgil, translated by J.B. Greenough. EPUB, MOBI and HTML formats.
Wikisource: Eclogues (Virgil). Multiple translations. HTML and other formats.
Latin texts
Gutenberg: The Bucolics and Eclogues. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats. 
Wikisource: Eclogae vel Bucolica. HTML and other formats.

Troilus and Criseyde is a Middle English epic poem composed by Geoffrey Chaucer in the late fourteenth century.

It belongs to the medieval literature known as the Matter of Rome, which embroidered on the classical myths. While Troilus, the son of Priam was known to the ancients primarily for his murder by Achilles, medieval traditions of courtly romance endowed him with a lover, who became Criseida in Boccaccio, the most immediate inspiration for Chaucer's own version of the tale.

Troilus and Criseyde at online book stores
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Free online texts
Gutenberg: Troilus and Criseyde. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats. 
Internet Archive: Troilus and Criseyde. 1888 edtion. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
Online Medieval and Classical Library: Troilus and Criseyde. HTML format
Wikisource: Troilus and Criseyde. HTML and other formats.

Persuasion is Jane Austen's last completed novel, published posthumously in 1818.

The book's heroine, Anne Elliott is the daugher of a baronet in reduced circumstances, who rents his house to a relative of Anne's former fiancé. The eventual renewal of the engagement is the central example of the titular theme which unites many of the novel's subplots.

Persuasion at online book stores
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Free online texts
Gutenberg: Persuasion.  EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats.
Internet Archive: Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. 1892 Athenaeum edition. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
Standard Ebooks: Persuasion. AZW3, EPUB, KEPUB and Advanced EPUB formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): Persuasion. EPUB, HTML and MOBI format.
Wikisource: Persuasion. HTML and other formats.

Mansfield Park is an 1814 novel by Jane Austen, the third published during her lifetime.

It's protagonist is Fanny Price, sent at ten years old to live with her aunt at Mansfield Park, where she is a literal poor relation among the fashionable younger set. She ultimately asserts herself by rejecting an unsuitable proposal, and marrying Edmund Bertram, the younger son of the master of the estate, who is destined to be a clergyman.

A number of themes have contributed to Mansfield Park's reputation as perhaps Austen's most controversial novel. Her portrait of Fanny has divided critics, though it is significant as an early treatment of the inner life of a young girl. Edmund's attachment to his religous vocation is often seen as reflecting Austen's critique of the French Revolution, and the role of the Bertrams in the Caribbean slave trade has sparked debate about Austen's own enigmatic views on the subject.

Mansfield Park at online book stores
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Free online texts
Gutenberg: Mansfield Park. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats.
Internet Archive: Mansfield Park. 1892 Athenaeum edition. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): Mansfield Park. EPUB, HTML and MOBI format.
Wikisource: Mansfield Park. HTML and other formats.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, a 1792 work by Mary Wollstonecraft, is one of the earliest modern statements of the case for political and social equality for women.

Wollstonecraft strongly defended the French Revolution against the criticisms of Edmund Burke in her previous work, A Vindication of the Rights of Men. Her dismay at the new French regime's conservative proposals for female education provided the immediate occasion for a second Vindication addressed to the statesman responsible, Talleyrand. Though novel, her argument that women should exercise full political citizenship, and be educated accordingly, drew heavily on prevalent enlightenment concepts of natural rights.

After her early death, Wollstonecraft's work was overshadowed by the hostile reception to William Godwin's biography of her. However, her reputation recovered with the growth of the women's movement by the early twentieth century, and the Vindication has come to be seen as a central precursor to modern feminism.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman at online book stores
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Free online texts
Early Modern Texts: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, adapted and translated into modern English, by Jonathan Bennett. PDF format.
Gutenberg: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats. 
Internet Archive: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. 1891 Unwin edition. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. EPUB, MOBI and HTML formats.
Wikisource: A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. HTML and other formats.

Emma is an 1815 novel by Jane Austen, the last published during her lifetime. Unlike Austen's earlier heroines, the title character is wealthy enough to feel no need to marry, and occupies herself with matchmaking for others.

Many critics consider the work on advance on Austen's earlier better-known novels, in part because of the portrayal of the wider community within which it is set, the fictional Surrey town of Highbury.

Emma at online book stores
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Free online texts
Gutenberg: Emma. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and PDF formats.
Internet Archive: Emma, 1892 Atheenaeum edition. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
Standard Ebooks: Emma. AZW3, EPUB, KEPUB and Advanced EPUB formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): Emma. EPUB, HTML and MOBI formats.
Wikisource: Emma. HTML and other formats.

Reflections on the Revolution in France is a 1790 work by Edmund Burke. The best-known critique of the revolution, it was originally written with a polemical purpose which deployed elements of satire as well as more considered arguments in attacking the revolutionaries and their British supporters.

Although many of Burke's factual claims have warranted close historical scrutiny, the influence of his ideas about the organic nature of society and the dangers of radical change based on abstract theory, have nevertheless made the Reflections a founding text of modern conservative thought.

Reflections on the Revolution in France at online book stores
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Free online texts
Early Modern Texts: Reflections on the Revolution in France, adapted and translated into modern English, by Jonathan Bennett. PDF format.
Gutenberg: The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol III. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats.
Internet Archive: On the Sublime and Beatiful, Reflections on the French Revolution, Letter to a Noble Lord. Harvard Classics edition. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): Reflections on the Revolution in France. EPUB, MOBI and HTML formats.
Wikisource: Reflections on the Revolution in France. HTML and other formats.

Pride and Prejudice is an 1813 novel by Jane Austen. Like its predecessor Sense and Sensibility it focuses on love and marriage among the English gentry of the period, a subject encapsulated in one of the most famous opening lines in literature. Although the title may simply reflect the succesful formula of the earlier novel, it also alludes to the obstacles that must be overcome by the central characters, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Pride and Prejudice at online book stores
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Free online texts
Gutenberg: Pride and Prejudice. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT formats.
Internet Archive: Pride and Prejudice. Everyman's Library edition. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
Internet Archive: Pride and Prejudice, with a Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne. Harvard Classics edition. EPUB, MOBI, PDF and TXT formats.
Standard Ebooks: Pride and Prejudice. AZW3, EPUB, KEPUB and Advanced EPUB formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): Pride and Prejudice. EPUB, HTML and MOBI formats.
Wikisource: Pride and Prejudice. HTML and other formats.

The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction is a collection of novels and short stories published in 1917 as a supplement to the original Harvard Classics.

Details of the individual volumes are below, with links to the relevant pages at this site for works and authors included in the collection. Electronic copies of each volume are available from the Internet Archive links in parentheses.

The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction at bookstores
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Tom Jones is a 1749 novel by Henry Fielding. It's follows the eponymous hero from his appearance as a newborn baby at the home of Squire Allworthy, through a series of picaresque advenures, which provide the occasion for satirical social commentary.

Initially controversial for the frankness of some of its subject matter, it has long since been recognised as a landmark in the development of the English novel.

Tom Jones at online book stores
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Free online texts
Gutenberg: History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. EPUB, HTML, MOBI and TXT format.
Internet Archive: The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling - Vol I | Vol II. Everyman's Library edition.
Standard Ebooks: The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling. AZW3, EPUB, KEPUB and Advanced EPUB formats.
University of Adelaide (Internet Archive): The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. EPUB, HTML and MOBI format.
Wikisource: The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling. HTML and other formats.