Introductory note on Thomas Carlyle (Volume 25, Harvard Classics)

The most unhappy man, Carlyle says, is the man who has no real work - no interest in life. To avoid this miserable state, he advises faithful and diligent reading along the lines dictated by curiosity and interest. (Volume 25, Harvard Classics)

Introductory note on Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (Volume 23, Harvard Classics)

Dana's description of the picturesque, pre-gold-rush California is unique. While he was on the Pacific coast he met a British sailor who was elaborately tattooed and of an unforgetable appearance and personality. (Volume 23, Harvard Classics)

Introductory note on Homer (Volume 22, Harvard Classics)

After twenty years' absence, Odysseus returned home to find his house filled with strangers rioting and wasting his treasure. Crafty Odysseus, with the aid of his son and the gods, devised a bold plan to rid his home of the unwelcome guests. (Volume 22, Harvard Classics)

Introductory note on Sir Francis Drake (Volume 33, Harvard Classics)

Drake with a fleet of twenty-five ships and twenty-three hundred men sets sail to plunder and lay waste Spain's treasure hoards in the New World. Gold and silver bar, nuggets and jewels awaited the bold adventurers. (Volume 33, Harvard Classics)

Introductory note on Charles Darwin (#2) (Volume 29, Harvard Classics)

It was the new-old lands that Darwin visited on his voyage of the "Beagle." The strange specimens of prehistoric life he saw there made the world gape and shudder. (Volume 29, Harvard Classics)

Charles Darwin begins voyage in the "Beagle," Dec. 27, 1831.