Autobiography

William Kilburn (1745-1818) and Artists’ Copyright

Artists & Intellectuals audiobooks, copyright, librivox, nonfiction collection, painting, William Kilburn

Above: One of my watercolors, inspired by Kilburn

Textile design, flowers on a khaki background

William Kilburn was a watercolor artist, engraver, and textile designer in England in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His sumptuous floral designs can be viewed on-line courtesy of the V & A museum:

Kilburn was one of the first artists to fight for copyright for his original designs, which were being knocked-off in rival textile factories in as little as 10-days! Kilburn’s 1797 testimony before the House of Commons led to the passage, in 1798, of one of the earliest copyright acts for printed cotton designs:

I read a brief biography of Kilburn for the 64th volume of the LibriVox Short Nonfiction Collection.
Listen to my recording here.
Read the text online here.

Some of the things that fascinated me about Kilburn were his use of striking black and khaki backgrounds, and unusual pairings of seaweed and flowers in his designs.

William Blake to Mr. Butts, 16th August 1803

Artists & Intellectuals letters, librivox, memoirs, nonfiction collection, William Blake

Above: “The Garden (2020)”

William Blake (1757-1827)

[Excerpt from a letter]
To Mr. Butts:
Felpham, 16th August 1803

“I go on with the remaining subjects which you gave me commission to execute for you; but I shall not be able to send any more before my return… I am at present in a bustle to defend myself against a very unwarrantable warrant from a justice of peace in Chichester, which was taken out against me by a private in Captain Leathe’s troop of 1st or Royal Dragoons for an assault and seditious words.

His enmity arises from my having turned him out of my garden… I desired him, as politely as possible, to go out of the garden; he made an impertinent answer. I insisted on his leaving the garden; he refused. I still persisted in desiring his departure. He then threatened to knock out my eyes… I therefore took him by the elbows and pushed him before me till I had got him out. There I intended to have left him, but he, turning about, put himself into a posture of defiance, threatening and swearing at me. I, perhaps foolishly and perhaps not, stepped out at the gate, and, putting aside his blows, took him again by the elbows, and keeping his back to me, pushed him forward down the road about fifty yards–he all the while endeavouring to turn round and strike me, and raging and cursing, which drew out several neighbors…”

I read the full letter from William Blake to his patron for the 75th volume of the Short Nonfiction Collection.

You can listen to my recording here.
You can read William Blake’s letters here.

The White Heart of Mojave

Travelers American West, audiobooks, Death Valley, Edna Brush Perkins, librivox, memoirs, women

Edna Brush Perkins (1880–1930)

Alkali Flats, Death Valley

The White Heart of the Mojave recounts a 1920’s adventure “in the wind and sun and big spaces” of Death Valley by two independent minded women, Edna Brush Perkins and Charlotte Hannahs Jordan. Both women were early feminists, Edna as chairwoman of the greater Cleveland Woman’s Suffrage Party (1916-18). At the end of the Great War, the two friends wanted nothing more than to escape “to the solitariness of some wild and lonely place far from city halls, smokestacks, national organizations, and streets of little houses all alike.”

Listen here:
Read the book on-line:

Their vacation started as a long motor drive through the backwoods of California (Charlotte’s husband, Ned, owned the Jordan Motor Car Company). It ended with a month long trek through Death Valley in an old milk wagon drawn by a horse and a mule. Edna’s descriptions of the desert are superb and from the heart–the dunes “were very beautiful, with knife-edged tops ridged in pure, clean lines from which fringes of fine sand blew up like the wind tossed manes of white horses.” This is a great listen for anyone who likes first-hand accounts of adventure in the Great Outdoors.

If you have enjoyed The White Heart of Mojave, you might like
The Land of Little Rain, by Mary Hunter Austin

The Salines of Southern Illinois

African Americans American History, audiobooks, Illinois, librivox, Salt, Slavery & Abolition

Above: Left, A 60-gallon salt kettle. Right, Peter White of Equality, Illinois

George W. Smith (1855-1945)

The salt springs, wells and salt licks on the Saline River, near the Illinois town of Equality were known and used by Native Americans before the coming of the English. During the early years of the 19th century, a flourishing salt industry grew up in the area. The salt making process was very primitive. Large iron kettles, holding from 45 to 90 gallons were used to boil the brackish water. Long trenches were dug in the ground and lined with rock. The kettles were set over these trenches. A chimney was constructed at one end of the trench and a wood fire was kept constantly burning under the kettles, to evaporate the brine. Most of the labor was performed by Blacks and mulattoes, some of whom were enslaved despite an Illinois prohibition on slavery. In the 1870’s, the industry fell into decay.

George W. Smith, a professor at Southern Illinois University, visited Equality in 1903, when remnants of the old works were still visible and he was able to interview persons with memories of the industry. Among the persons he talked with was Peter White, whose photograph is show above. Smith writes: “I called to see Uncle Peter White (colored) now 70 years old. Uncle Pete was brought up in the immediate vicinity of the salt works. In 1844, when he was 10 years old, he and three other children were kidnapped and taken into Arkansas and sold into slavery for $800.” [They were subsequently rescued and returned to Illinois.] Uncle Peter’s memory is good, and I gathered some valuable information from him.” Smith published an article about the salines in the 1904 Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society. I read this article for the 59th volume of the LibriVox Short Nonfiction Collection. The photographs are from Prof. Smith’s History of Southern Illinois (1912), Vol. 1, pp. 473 and 482,

The New Stove

Women audiobooks, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, librivox, memoirs, nonfiction collection, women

Above: Granite Beach Stones, A Color Scheme for a New Kitchen

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)

The New Stove is a small essay about self assertion, about carrying enough about your own self worth to tackle change. It’s also a simple story about friendship. It was written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton about a neighbor of hers. This neighbor needed a new kitchen stove. This was 1852, when stoves were wood burning, and this stove was old and and miserable to cook on. The stove didn’t even provide decent heat for the kitchen, and the neighbor couldn’t keep a cook.

I read Stanton’s essay for the 70th volume of the LibriVox Short Nonfiction Collection.
You can listen to my recording here.
You can read the essay here.

Stanton asked her neighbor why she didn’t buy a new stove (she had enough money) and the neighbor blamed her husband, who had said they didn’t need a new stove. Stanton’s response: “If he attempted to cook a meal–granting he knew how–on your old stove, he would set it out of doors the next hour. Now my advice to you is to by a new one this very day.”

The two women go to to the hardware store together and, accordingly, select “the most approved, largest sized stove, with all the best cooking utensils, best Russian pipe, etc.” Then the neighbor admits to Stanton that what she’d really like is two stoves, the second stove for her sitting room, “with the pipes of both stoves to lead into dumb stoves above, and thus heat two or three rooms upstairs for my children to play in, as they have no place except the sitting room, where they must be always with me. But,” the neighbor murmurs wistfully, “I suppose it is not best to do too much at one time.” Stanton’s response, translated into modern English is Nonsense! Go for it!

So, the story concludes “the stoves and pipes were ordered, holes were cut through the ceiling, and all were in working order the next day. The cook was delighted over her splendid stove and shining tins, copper-bottomed tea-kettle and boiler, and warm sleeping room upstairs; the children were delighted with their large playrooms, and madam jubilant with her added comforts and that newborn feeling of independence one has in assuming responsibility.”

I happened upon this story one day recently. It resonated with me immediately, as I had been agonizing about my own kitchen stove; the oven had stopped heating ages ago, and I hadn’t had a home-cooked pizza for months. I kept thinking I should call a repairman, but I hated to “waste the money.” What I really wanted was a new kitchen. The stove and the kitchen dated back to 1983, when my late husband and I had remodeled the 1955 original. 36 years ago…

I read the story. I skipped the repairman and called a contractor.

The Journey of Coronado

Explorers audiobooks, librivox, memoirs, Pedro de Castaneda, Spanish Borderlands, Zuni

Pedro de Castañeda (c. 1500’s)

Translated by George Parker Winship (1871-1952)

In 1540, Francisco Vásquez de Coronado led an army from Mexico is search of the fabled golden cities of Cíbola. The Spaniards found no riches—instead, the Grand Canyon, the vast buffalo plains, and the pueblos of Zuni and Pecos. The narratives in this volume are all first-hand accounts of the Coronado expedition–raw, gripping, spirit-stirring–translated from the Spanish by George Parker Winship. The primary account was written by Pedro de Castañeda, a soldier in Coronado’s army. Letters from Coronado to the viceroy of Mexico and the Spanish king are also included.

Listen to my recording here:
Read the text here:

If you have enjoyed The Journey of Coronado, you might also like
The Journey of Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatán

You might also enjoy this classic, The History of the Conquest of Mexico, by William H. Prescott (1796–1859). This book is a group reading, to which I contributed, among others, the chapter “Hernando Cortes, His Early Life.”

The Journal of Submarine Commander Von Forstner

War & Military audiobooks, librivox, memoirs, U-boat, war and military, World War I

George-Günther von Forstner (1882–1940)

The Journal of Submarine Commander Von Forstner is a graphic account of WWI submarine warfare. Forstner was the commander of German U-boat U-28. His journal, first published 1916, gives a gritty picture of daily life inside a submarine and details several torpedo attacks on Allied shipping. The 1917 translation of Forstner’s journal into English was unquestionably intended to bolster the Allied war effort. In the foreword, the translator states: “Nothing at the present day has aroused such fear as this invisible enemy, nor has anything outraged the civilized world like the tragedies caused by the German submarines.”

This audio read of Forstner’s journal was prompted by a tour of a captured WWII German U-505 submarine, which is a prime draw at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. The sub’s interior is not for claustrophobics — a hunkered maze of pipes and valves, banks of engines and batteries that leave very little room for humans. Particularly arresting are the sleeping quarters — bunks cozy’d up with the 15 foot long torpedoes.

You also might find interesting this recording: Gallipoli Diary, by John Graham Graham.

The Journal of Lewis and Clark

Explorers American West, audiobooks, librivox, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark

Above: The Pacific Ocean, Rialto Beach, Olympic Peninsula, Washington, 2007

Meriwether Lewis (1774–1800) and William Clark (1770–1838)

The journal of Lewis and Clarke to the mouth of the Columbia River beyond the Rocky Mountains in the years 1804-5, & 6 : giving a faithful description of the river Missouri and its source – of the various tribes of Indians through which they passed – manners and customs – soil – climate – commerce – gold and silver mines – animal and vegetable productions, &c.

Listen here:
Read the text here:

The Journal of Lewis and Clark was a collaborative LibriVox reading, to which I contributed a chapter.

The Invitation: Søren Kierkegaard

Artists & Intellectuals audiobooks, librivox, nonfiction collection, Søren Kierkegaard

The Invitation, from Preparations for a Christian Life

Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

“Come hither unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew II, 28)

…A man cannot himself live in abundance, or at any rate in well-being and happiness, and at the same time dwell in one and the same house together with, and in daily intercourse with, the poor and miserable, with them that labor and are heavy laden…. If he wishes to invite a sufferer, he must either change his own condition to be like that of the sufferer, or else change that of the sufferer to be like his own; for if this is not done the difference will stand out only the more by contrast…”
Søren Kierkegaard

Excerpts from the philosophy of Søren Kierkegaard in English translation are available at LibriVox.

I read this selection from Kierkegaard’s Preparation for a Christian Life for the 55th Volume of the Nonfiction Collection.

You might also like George Berkeley (1685-1753)’s Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, from which I read a selection.

The Friendly Road, New Adventures in Contentment

Travelers audiobooks, librivox

Ray Stannard Baker (1870–1946)

My grandmother Gertrude received a copy of The Friendly Road for Christmas in 1919. It must have been a special gift book–green leather binding, gold embossing, a sheet of tissue paper protecting the color plate facing the title page–this a painting of a solitary man enjoying a swim in a sun dappled stream with the caption “Surely it is good to be alive at a time like this.”

Written in first person, pseudo autobiographical style, the “author” of The Friendly Road, David Grayson, is a writer,* living on a farm with cows to milk, and ducks and pigs to feed, and fields in need of plowing. One day he just slings a few belongings in a pack and walks off, leaving the cows unmilked and his sister Harriet standing in the doorway. “My sober friend Grayson writes, “have you ever tried to do anything that the world at large considers not quite sensible, not quite sane? Try it!” The rest of the book is an odd mixture of nostalgia for a gentler, kinder age; adventures, as Grayson relies on the charity of strangers to get by; with a bit of progressive politics thrown in. After bumming for several days, Grayson arrives in the “City,” where a strike is in progress. He sympathizes with the workers, but he is appalled by “the ill-smelling streets and dirty sidewalks and swarming human beings . . . the evidences of poverty, dirt, and ignorance.” And guess what? He returns home to his farm, and Harriet bakes him a rhubarb pie.

Gertrude, who had immigrated from Germany to the United States in 1892 at the age of 17, was 44 years old that Christmas. She was living on a fruit ranch in eastern Washington state, with her husband, a school teacher, also a German immigrant, whom she had married in 1898. She had 6 children, the oldest 20, the youngest only 2. The last few years had not been easy for this family. Gertrude’s 10-year old daughter Mary, my mother, was slowly limping towards recovery from a bout of polio. Worse yet, during World War I Gertrude’s husband was unjustly accused of being a “German sympathizer” despite the fact that his oldest son was a U.S. Army volunteer, and he was forced from his teaching post. His job loss meant more work for Gertrude, because, as my grandfather later explained to a journalist, after losing his job, he decided to “retire” to the country–“to live calmly, read Homer and Goethe and Balzac and Emerson (and) raise fruit and chickens.”**

Gertrude entrusted several of her favorite books to my teenage self before she died in 1958. Another was a book of poems entitled Because I Love You, inscribed to Gertrude as a birthday present in 1897 by a young man who was not my grandfather! Books. . . choices . . .

*David Grayson was a pseudonym used by the actual author of The Friendly Road, Ray Stannard Baker.

**Louis Adamic ,”A Man from the Black Forest,” in Two Way Passage (1941).

You might enjoy Recollections of Life in Ohio, 1813-1840, by William Cooper Howells

Gertrude’s early adventures as an immigrant to the U.S. come to life in her autograph book, which she kept from 1892 t0 1896.