The Scholar Adventurer

The Scholar Adventurers chronicles the research behind some of the most exciting and rewarding discoveries of literary scholars. Here are stories of the detective work that uncovered Sir Thomas Malory's long jail record; the dramatic uncovering of the Boswell papers at Malahide Castle; the true facts in the untimely demise of Christopher Marlowe; stories of the Brontës microscopic books of juvenilia; the decipherment of Samuel Pepys' incomparable diary; the forgeries of "rare" works by Browning, Tennyson, Ruskin, Swinburne, and many others. "This book has several of the characteristics of a well-written detective story. Mr. Altick supplies suspense wherever his subject allows it; his characters include brilliant (and occasionally odd) unravelers of riddles as well as some crafty villains; and his style is brisk. Some pessimistic observers insist that there is no such thing as a book which will appeal to both the specialist and the general reader. Mr. Altick has demonstrated how they can be wrong." - The American Historical Review - Back cover.

The Austro-Hungarian aristocrat of Transylvanian origin, Baron Franz Nopcsa (1877-1933), was one of the most adventuresome travelers and scholars of Southeast Europe in the early decades of the twentieth century. He was also a paleontologist of renown and a noted geologist of the Balkan Peninsula : many of his assumptions have been confirmed by science. The Memoirs of this fascinating figure deal mainly with his travels in the Balkans, and specifically in the remote and wild mountains of northern Albania, in the years from 1903 to 1914. They thus cover the period of Ottoman Rule, the Balkan Wars and the outbreak of the First World War. Nopcsa was a keen adventurer who hiked through regions of northern Albania. With time, he became a leading expert in Albanian studies. He was also deeply involved in the politics of the period. In 1913, Nopcsa even offered himself as a candidate for the vacant Albanian throne. The Introduction also tells of Nopcsa's tragic death: he shot his Albanian secretary and partner before killing himself. The memoirs themselves reveal some references to his homosexuality for those who can read between the lines.

The Adventure of the Illustrious Scholar: Papers Presented to Oscar White Muscarella, edited by Elizabeth Simpson, celebrates the career of one of the foremost archaeologists of the ancient Near East. Forty-seven major scholars contribute to this unusual and important volume.

This biography restores to history the significant contributions of a pioneer in the acquisition and publication of American historical documents.

1895. American novelist and historian, Eggleston's novels depicting early life in southern Indiana have been widely read. The design of this volume is laid out in the Preface: This book is intended to serve three main purposes. One of these is to make school reading pleasant by supplying matter simple and direct in style, and sufficiently interesting and exciting to hold the reader's attention in a state of constant wakefulness; that is, to keep the mind in the condition in which instruction can be received with the greatest advantage. A second object is to cultivate an interest in narratives of fact by selecting chiefly incidents full of action, such as are attractive to the minds of boys and girls whose pulses are yet quick with youthful life. The early establishment of a preference for stories of this sort is the most effective antidote to the prevalent vice of reading inferior fiction for mere stimulation. But the principal aim of this book is to make the reader acquainted with American life and manners in other times. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

Cervera, Spain, 1852. David Sandoval is a sixteen-year-old genius on many different subjects, yet he is more content studying than becoming close with family or friends. When he accepts an apprenticeship offer from a French architect, he is convinced that this will be the biggest achievement of his life. While on his travels to Paris, a foolhardy decision on his part gets him abducted by a gypsy caravan, owned by a living Grecian sphinx. The sphinx, seemingly intrigued by the fearless young man, takes him through the Curtain, the gateway between our world and the worlds of the "unseen," where many creatures of myth and legend reside. When David discovers that he has unwittingly proposed to the sphinx--who appears pleased to have him as a potential mate--he attempts to escape back through the Curtain to the human world, only to be sent to Kyoto, Japan, and that is only the beginning of his problems. On his adventure to return home, he learns a dark secret: a Shade, an extension of the shadowy Night Goddess Nyx, is slowly draining the sphinx of her most precious talents. David might be the only human on earth with the knowledge of how to save the sphinx from a lethal blight imposed on her by Nyx, and he must also save his new friends from a ruthless adversary, the Teumessian. Can one normal boy truly undo the inflictions of a goddess, and rescue both the seen and unseen worlds from her dark intentions?