LINCOLN

"One day a mover who was driving out to Iowa halted his covered wagon in front of the Lincoln & Berry store.  The roads were soft, his horses were tired, and the mover decided to lighten his load.  So he sold Lincoln a barrel of household plunder.  Lincoln didn't want the plunder, but he felt sorry for the horses;  he paid the mover fifty cents, and without examining the barrel rolled it into the back room of the store.
A fortnight later he emptied the contents of the barrel out on the floor, idly curious to see what he had bought.  There, at the bottom of the rubbish, he found a complete edition of Blackstone's Commentaries on Law; and started to read...And the more he read, the more interested he became.  Never before had he been so absorbed in a book.  He read until he had devoured all four volumes.
Then he made a momentous decision:  he would be a lawyer."

~ Lincoln The Unknown, Dale Carnegie,Dale Carnegie & Associates, Inc.,1932.

Tomorrow:  Lincoln walks twenty miles studying as he goes.
(A. Lincoln b. Feb. 12, 1809 d. April 15, 1865)

Conway Park ~ Banks of The Grand

25 Days until Spring ~



Beowulf Written Originally on Vellum 



"There are several translations of Beowulf available, with various strengths.  The Seamus Heaney version, for example, is recent, very readable, and a fine poem in its own right.  Mike Walton's* is also recent and also very readable, but he has been even more careful than Heaney to stay close to the original.  Walton also manages to convey the *feel* of Anglo-Saxon poetry better than any other translator I've read.  His introduction and notes, too, are particularly clear, instructive, and a pleasure to read.  Mike Walton is not only a careful scholar; he's a born teacher."

*The Book of Beowulf, Michael Walton, 2007. Available at The Neat Little Bookshop.
~ Laurie Miller, author of The Avro Arrow, Lorimer, 2011

Image: Wikipedia



York Haldimand County

 Dreaming ~ 26 Days until Spring



Port Dover Haldimand County

 



Normandale Norfolk County



Mike Walton and Beowulf ~

A special thank-you to Mike for his presentation of the old Anglo-Saxon, epic poem Beowulf.  Mike's artifacts, visuals and discussion of a time unfamiliar to most of us, whiled away an afternoon until it was past bookshop closing time.

Mike, that was a presentation deserving of an audience of two hundred.  (We didn't entertain quite that many.)  Those of us in attendance felt priviledged and enlightened.  Thank you.
~ lbw 

Note:  Mike's first edition, book of beowulf, is available at The Neat Little Bookshop.

Tomorrow:  Comments and praise for The Book of Beowulf.

Beowulf ~

"When I began this project [translation of Beowulf ] with a leave from Mohawk College, I ran into several acquaintances who, when I began to explain what I was doing, responded, "Oh, Beowulf? ~ I just love Beowulf!"  Most of these people were not particularly scholarly or studious, and their knowledge of the poem would have come from one of the many translations presently available....  Nevertheless the poem had reached them profoundly in some way.  I believe that for many readers the poem is very moving.  It seems to me that when we speak of the meaning of the poem we actually refer to the relationship that its various readers develop with it.

"The values expressed in Beowulf are still respected in our culture, though now as then, probably, they are honoured more in the breach than the observance.  They include stoic bravery in the face of death, loyalty especially to one's kin, friends and dryhten, caring about personal reputation, generosity, a willingness to act, not just talk,and the litany of virtues attributed to Beowulf at the end of the poem."

~ Michael Walton, The book of beowulf, 2007.

Reminder:  Mike will be in The Neat L'l Bookshop today at 1:00 p.m. to discuss his translation of Beowulf.  It's informal.  Everyone welcome.

Update:  A new order of Dirty Business has arrived.  To reserve your copy please call or e-mail The Neat L'l Bookshop as below.



Destined for Cheapside Haldimand County



Dirty Business  Taking Orders ~

Coming this week another order of the book about Ontario's "Rush to Wind Power." Available at The Neat L'l Bookshop. 





  $12.99  Call or e-mail lwalker@shaw.ca for your copy or copies. 905-772-5997 or 905-577-5635.

Photos: Taken February 19, 2013 in Dunnville, Haldimand County ~ lbw

Please click on photo for larger image.