Library Book Sampler
A few books by Warren Wilson College faculty and staff
David J. Bradshaw and Suzanne Ozment, editors
The Voice of Toil: Nineteenth-Century British Writing about Work
English professor David J. Bradshaw's The Voice of Toil (Ohio University Press, 1999) is an edited collection of nineteenth-century British writings in collaboration with Suzanne Ozment, an English professor at The Citadel. Reflecting the various Victorian approaches to work, the selections are arranged thematically in four parts: "Work as Mission," "Work as Opportunity," "Work as Oppression," and "(Separate) Spheres of Work." Focused introductions, helpful biographical and explanatory notes, and pertinent illustrations enhance this useful cultural sourcebook which achieves the editors' purpose "to provide readings that will provoke thought and discussion about one of the most recurrent and controversial topics of nineteenth-century discourse."
Available in Archives and Stacks, 820.80355 V889.
Cover image courtesy of Ohio University Press.
Gwen Diehn
Making Books That Fly, Fold, Wrap, Hide, Pop Up, Twist, & Turn: Books for Kids to Make
Art professor Gwen Diehn has created an attractive and instructive book (Lark Books, 1998) for kids on all types of handmade books. Abundant project photographs and step-by-step illustrations enhance the printed directions for making books that carry messages, celebrate things, save treasures and memories, and clarify thoughts and experiences.
Available in Archives and Juvenile, J 736.98 D559m.
Gwen Diehn's other books in the collection include The Decorated Page: Journals, Scrapbooks & Albums Made Simply Beautiful (2002), Light Rail (2000), Simple Printmaking: A Beginner’s Guide to Making Relief Prints with Linoleum Blocks, Wood Blocks, Rubber Stamps, Found Objects & More (2000), Geology Crafts for Kids: 50 Nifty Projects to Explore the Marvels of Planet Earth (1996), Science Crafts for Kids: 50 Fantastic Things to Invent & Create (1994), and Nature Crafts for Kids (1992).
Cover image courtesy of Sterling Publishing Company.
Wayne Erbsen
Rural Roots of Bluegrass: Songs, Stories & History
Although bluegrass music is named after Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys, and generally associated with Kentucky, it traces much of its origin to North Carolina. Music professor Wayne Erbsen's book, published by Native Ground Music in 2003, discusses the people, symbols, institutions, and social conditions that have shaped the music. Erbsen introduces readers and musicians to 94 traditional songs considered central to the bluegrass repertoire. Drawing from a variety of sources, including English ballads, parlor songs, Tin Pan Alley, Scots-Irish fiddle-tunes, plantation melodies, gospel songs, and banjo tunes, he provides musical notation for and background information on each song. A companion CD of the same title, by Wayne Erbsen and Laura Boosinger, contains sixteen of the songs.
Available in Stacks, 781.642 E65r. The library collection includes over a dozen other books by Wayne Erbsen.
Cover image courtesy of Native Ground Music.
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice, with an introduction and notes by Carol Howard
English professor Carol Howard provides the reader with the text of this well-known novel and abundant scholarly background for understanding its significance and perennial popularity. Howard’s contribution to this edition (Barnes & Noble, 2003) of the publisher’s Classics series (George Stade, Consulting Editorial Director), a second title in this series from WWC faculty, includes a lengthy essay on Austen and her novel, useful footnotes and endnotes, and a bibliography for further reading.
Available in Archives and Fiction, F A933p 2003.
Cover image courtesy of Barnes & Noble.
Joseph Conrad
Heart of Darkness and Selected Short Fiction, with an introduction and notes by A. Michael Matin
English professor Michael Matin offers the reader the texts of Conrad’s novella and three of his short stories (“Youth,” “Amy Foster,” and “The Secret Sharer”) along with a wealth of scholarly background for understanding these examples of Conrad’s fiction. Matin’s contribution to this edition (Barnes & Noble, 2003) of the publisher’s Classics series (George Stade, Consulting Editorial Director), a second title in this series from WWC faculty, includes an extensive introduction to Conrad and his works in this anthology, notes on the texts used, helpful footnotes and endnotes, and an annotated bibliography for further reading.
Available in Archives and Fiction, F C754h.
Cover image courtesy of Barnes & Noble.
Sebastian Matthews
In My Father's Footsteps: A Memoir
Professor of writing Sebastian Matthews describes his loving but unsentimental account of his relationship with his poet father, Bill Matthews, as a type of writing about place. It is also about journeying, as Sebastian presents a nuanced portrait of life with his hard driving, charismatic father, a "bundle of contradictions" who died suddenly at the age of fifty-five. When Sebastian arrives at the end of this journey, he affirms his place as one of richness and meaning. Published by W.W. Norton in 2004, almost seven years after his father's death, Sebastian's memoir pays homage to his brilliant father. "When you take up something your parent loved, you are both spending and cultivating your inheritance," he writes.
Available in Archives and Stacks, 811.54 M442Ym.
David G. Moore
Catawba Valley Mississippian: Ceramics, Chronology, and Catawba Indians
The historic Catawba Indians have been linked to the Catawba River Valley of North Carolina by tradition and by presumed similarities between prehistoric ceramics and historic Catawba pottery. Drawing upon archaeological and ethnohistoric data, archaeology professor David Moore presents a cultural chronology of the late Prehistoric and early Historic periods in the Catawba River Valley and outlines the ethnogenesis of the Catawba Indians. Moore sheds light on a subject which had been little understood, due to the lack of a well-documented eighteenth-century Native American population and substantive Catawba Indian archaeological research in the area, as well as factors such as association of the area with the Cherokee Indians. His book, published by the University of Alabama Press in 2002, includes a wealth of supporting figures, photographs, and maps.
Available in Archives and Stacks, 975.678501 M821c.
Cover image courtesy of University of Alabama Press.
About our selections.
Dissertations by WWC people.
Send questions or comments to Joy Pastucha or Mei Mah.
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