• For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here.
    (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation)
This is a mobile optimized page that loads fast, if you want to load the real page, click this text.

Dr. Eliot's Five Foot Shelf

G

gerardcarey

Veteran Member
Time of past OR future Camino
CFx2, CPx1
Harvard University president Charles W. Eliot had stated that the elements of a liberal education could be obtained by spending 15 minutes a day reading from a collection of books that could fit on a five-foot shelf.
The publisher P. F. Collier and Son, quite appropriately, told Eliot to put his money where his mouth was.
The Harvard Classics is the result.

It initially consisted of a 51-volume anthology of classic works from world literature to which was added a further 20 volumes of great novels and short stories.
So, here we have a collection of the work of every major literary figure, philosopher, religion, folklore and historical subject up to the twentieth century, available as a free kindle download.
This is available from my US Amazon account, but also from my Australian Amazon account.

May I recommend my two favorite adventure books. I love reading adventure books on Camino.
The Voyage of the Beagle - Charles Darwin - IMO the greatest adventure book ever written.
Two Years before the mast - Richard Henry Dana


Regards
Gerard
 
Last edited:
Camino Preparation Guide
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
But you don't need to limit yourself to a 5 ft shelf.

The advantage to publishers is that the "classics" were written by dead authors and there are no royalties to pay.
 
C clearly said:
Wow! With this on my phone, I can go anywhere anytime and not be stuck without a book. Thank you.
Click to expand...
You are quite right. This e-book really is a library of some of the worlds finest and most interesting works of literature. It is deserving of being on any pilgrims's phone.
Regards
Gerard
 
Camino Inglés Walking Holiday - UK
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms

Also available free on Amazon UK.
 
Camino Preparation Guide
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Albertagirl said:
I have discovered this book for purchase on Amazon.ca for $.99 Cdn, for which price it provides a fascinating portable library.
Click to expand...
Interesting, I got it for free from the Canadian Amazon. Weird.

When I followed the link to Amazon.com, it said it wasn't available in my country. When I switched to Amazon Canada, it was available for free,
 
David Tallan said:
Interesting, I got it for free from the Canadian Amazon. Weird.
Click to expand...
I searched for the title on amazon.ca and found several versions - some for a dollar or two, and some free. I don't know the differences, if any, but I downloaded a free one.
 
I was tempted to download it for free but the size is huge. I think I'll stick to downloading the classics one by one for free, or for a few cents, as and when I'd like to read one, and then remove it from my device once read. But thanks for the link, much appreciated!
 
Camino Ready, Backpacks, Boots etc
3rd Edition. More content, training & pack guides avoid common mistakes, bed bugs etc
Good point, considering that I am not likely to read very much of the 51 volumes! But browsing through them will provide some entertainment, and I can always delete later!
 
Sailing Around the World-Slocum

Having Sailed my Cape Dory 19 all over the coast of Maine this book resonated with me.

The classic of its kind." —Travel World
"One of the most readable books in the whole library of adventure." —Sports Illustrated
"The finest single-handed adventure story yet written." —Seafarer
Challenged by an expert who said it couldn't be done, Joshua Slocum, an indomitable New England sea captain, set out in April of 1895 to prove that a man could sail alone around the world. 46,000 miles and a little over 3 years later, the proof was complete: Captain Slocum had performed the epic "first" single-handedly in a trusty 34-foot sloop called the "Spray." This is Slocum's own account of his remarkable adventures during the historic voyage.
Slocum writes in a fast-paced, exhilarating style. His almost matter-of-fact descriptions of hazardous episodes and his colorful, often witty observations make this book perhaps the most delightful and absorbing adventure tale in history. Across the Atlantic he sailed, but chased by Moorish pirates off Gibraltar, he decided to circle Cape Horn instead and go around the world the other way! He tells of perils on stormy seas and of numerous harrowing events: his escape from a fleet of hostile canoes; an encounter with Black Pedro, "the worst murderer in Tierra del Fuego"; foiling a nocturnal attack by savages by strewing carpet tacks on the "Spray's" deck; submerged by a great wave off the Patagonian coast; the "rain of blood" in Australia; dodging coral reefs in the South Seas. In Samoa, he was visited by Mrs. Robert Louis Stevenson; in South Africa, he talked congenially with Stanley of "Stanley and Livingstone" fame, and met "Oom Paul" Kruger, President of the Transvaal republic. Kruger was incensed when one of his officials described Slocum's voyage as "around the world," since his religious beliefs convinced him that the world was flat!
This robust classic of the sea has been widely read ever since its first publication in 1900. It has been reprinted several times and has even been required reading in many schools. This edition (complete with all of the original Thomas Fogarty illustrations) of Captain Slocum's story will prove as enjoyable and thrilling to the present generation of Americans as it was to our fathers and grandfathers.
 
Thank you for reminding me Terry. I'm really looking forward to reading that. In fact I'm a little ashamed that I have not as yet.
Regards
Gerard
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Hi Gerard.

It is bit off the subject, but you mentioned the President of Harvard University.
Did you know that when "Candy Cummings" who invented the curve ball, was at Harvard,
the then President of Harvard banded the pitch because it was not "gentlemanly" to deceive to opposing batter. As a young man in 1870 he tossed clam shells into the water making them curve.

Boy I wish I could watch some baseball – Go Boston Red Sox.

This whole pandemic makes me want to reach out to smart Camino people like you.

My father bought the “Great Books” 50 volumes--- Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Virgil, Aquinas, Hobbs, and Marx. It is on my book shelf and is a constant reminder of my dad.

But for me the Camino was not about accumulating knowledge, adding more to myself.

It was and emptying out, a winnowing. To hear the: “Great Silence”. To be in the infinite moment. Not about knowing, but about being – A Zen Experience.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Camino Photo

Most read last week in this forum

Similar threads

Five Extra Days
Replies
12
Views
2K
Philtration
Five years later...
Replies
45
Views
3K
JohnLloyd
Five sisters walk from Sarria to Santiago
Replies
12
Views
2K
Kirkie
Menu
Log in
Register