Shaw, Matthew Henry, Will and Ariel Durant

Collected Plays with Their Prefaces by George Bernard Shaw, 6 Volumes Got for a good price (i.e., cheap) at a garage sale, mostly on the strength of liking “Heartbreak House” with Rex Harrison. There is also a connection with G. K. Chesterton, as the two were friends, and Shaw wrote him into “Man and Superman” as Immenso Champernoon, in a section that was cut. Researching this, I saw the set offered on E-Bay for $150. I could definitely let it go, for half the price! Resides as a shelf filler in Susan’s house. Ranking: Keeper. File Code: Plays, Collection, Hardback.

Matthew Henry’s Commentary (on the Whole Bible), 6 Volumes Picked this set up at Paperback Ranch. Originally published in 1811 (not this copy, obviously), so perhaps dated here and there, but full of fascinating learning and lore. For me, it was a browser and only occasionally a reference source; right now, it’s in Susan’s house as a shelf filler. Ranking: Dispensable. File Code: Theology. Reference. Hardback.

Our Oriental Heritage; The Life of Greece; Caesar and Christ; The Age of Faith; The Renaissance; The Reformation; The Age of Reason Begins; The Age of Louis XIV; The Age of Voltaire, by Will and Ariel Durant. The first nine volumes of the eleven volume “The Story of Civilization” by the famous husband-and-wife team of historians. I lack ‘Rousseau and Revolution’ and ‘The Age of Napoleon’. I’ve read some of them in my day, but with them tucked away in Susan’s house doing duty as shelf-fillers, opportunities to browse are rare. Ranking: Keepers. File Code: History. Hardbacks.