Various

Broschiertes Buch

Opal Gemstones - A Collection of Historical Articles on the Origins, Structure and Properties of Opal

Beschreibung

This book contains classic material dating back to the 1900s and before. The content has been carefully selected for its interest and relevance to a modern audience. Carefully selecting the best articles from our collection we have compiled a series of historical and informative publications on the subjects of gemology and crystallography. Each publication has been professionally curated and includes all details on the original source material. This particular instalment, "Opal Gemstones" contains information on their properties, origins, structure and much more. Intended to illustrate the main features of opal it is a comprehensive guide for anyone wishing to obtain a general knowledge of the subject and to understand the field in its historical context. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Autor

JOSEPH ADDISON How shall I bring to your mind the time and distance that separate us from the Age of Fable? Think of what seemed to you the longest week of your life. Think of fifty-two of these in a year; then think of two thousand five hundred years and try to realize that Aesop-sometimes called the Eighth Wise Man-lived twenty-five centuries ago and made these wonderful tales that delight us to-day. Shakespeare is even yet something of a mystery, although he was born in our own era, less than five hundred years ago; but men are still trying to discover any new facts of his life that might better explain his genius. A greater mystery is grand old Homer, who has puzzled the world for centuries. Scholars are not certain whether the "Iliad" or "Odyssey" are the work of one or more than one mind. Who can say? for the thrilling tales were told-probably after the fashion of all the minstrels of his day-more than eight hundred years before Christ. On the background of that dim distant long ago, perhaps two hundred years later than Homer, looms the magnificent figure of another mysterious being-Aesop the Greek slave. Wherever and whenever he lived, and whether, in fact, he ever lived at all, he seems very real to us, even though more than two thousand years have passed. Among all the stories that scholars and historians have told of him-sifting through the centuries the true from the false-we get a vivid picture of the man. He was born in Greece, probably in Phrygia, about 620 years before Christ. He had more than one master and it was the last, Iadmon, who gave him his liberty because of his talents and his wisdom. The historian Plutarch recounts his presence at the court of Croesus, King of Lydia, and his meeting Thales and Solon there, telling us also that he reproved the wise Solon for discourtesy toward the king. Aesop visited Athens and composed the famous fable of Jupiter and the Frogs for the instruction of the citizens. Whether he left any written fables is very uncertain, but those known by his name were popular in Athens when that city was celebrated throughout the world for its wit and its learning. Both Socrates and Plato delighted in them; Socrates, we read, having amused himself during the last days of his life with turning into verse some of Aesop's "myths" as he called them.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Merz Press
• Seitenzahl: 58
• Erscheinungstermin: 11. Juli 2011
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 216mm x 140mm x 4mm
• Gewicht: 87g
• ISBN-13: 9781447420378
• ISBN-10: 1447420373
• Artikelnr.: 33936052