10 Books A Day: #106

The Medieval Myths...Norma Lorre Goodrich...Mentor

Gods And Myths Of Northern Europe...H. R. Ellis Davidson...Pelican Books (Penguin)

The Nibelungenlied...tr. A. T. Hatto...Penguin

Beowulf...tr. David Wright...Penguin

Njal's Saga...tr. Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Palsson...Penguin

Egil's Saga...tr. Hermann Palsson and Paul Edwards...Penguin

Two Lives Of Charlemagne...Einhard and Notker the Stammerer...Penguin

Tristan...Gottfried Von Strassburg...Penguin

A History Of The English Church And People...Bede...Penguin

Lives Of The Saints...tr. J. F. Webb...Penguin

Yesterday was the end of the third wall; today I start the fourth wall. Technically if I just went straight around like I have been I should be beginning with my Tolkien and Tolkien-related books, but I think I'll leave that extensive collection to crown this exercise.

Book Count: 1202.

10 Books A Day: #105

All volumes are published by the Classic Press, Incorporated.

Treasure Island...Robert Louis Stevenson

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea...Jules Verne

Pinocchio...Carlo Collodi

The Swiss Family Robinson...Johann Wyss

The Jungle Book...Rudyard Kipling

The Virginian...Owen Wister

Casebook Of Sherlock Holmes...A. Conan Doyle

Arabian Nights...Andrew Lang

The Merry Adventures Of Robin Hood...Howard Pyle

The Heroes...Charles Kingsley

The Call Of The Wild...Jack London

Paul Bunyan...(no author or editor attributed)

These twelve books comprise the Educator Classic Library. They are, for the most part, complete and unabridged, illustrated, and supplied with helpful annotations in the margins for young readers. Although Classic Press, Incorporated produced many more volumes in this format, these are the only ones numbered and identified as in the series Educator Classic Library. Not only are these all classic books and in the public domain, they have also all had some sort of movie treatment, which I suspect had something to do with their inclusion in the series. Whatever the case, they are all good books, and handy for young learners. The volume we had when we were kids was 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, and that contributed to my older brother Mike's burgeoning ichthyology craze.

Book Count: 1192.

10 Books A Day: #104

The Book Of Runes...Ralph Blum...St. Martin's Press

A Field Guide To Monsters...Dave Elliott...Hylas

Noodles, Nitwits, And Numskulls...Maria Leach...The World Publishing Company

The White Stag...Kate Seredy...Viking Press

The Pilgrim's Progress...John Bunyan...The Peter Pauper Press

Rubaiyat Of Omar Khayyam...tr. Edward FitzGerald...Random House

Celtic Mythology...Proinsias MacCana...Hamlyn

Scandinavian Mythology...H. R. Ellis Davidson...Hamlyn

The Golden Book Of The Mysterious...Jane Werner Watson and Sol Chaneles...Goldencraft

Advanced D&D Monster Manual...Gary Gygax...TSR Games

The Rubaiyat and Pilgrim's Progress are slipcased. The Monster Manual is the 1979 4th Edition--and might well still be my brother's, technically. And that is the price on the Field Guide to Monsters: one dollar. The enjoyment my nephew has already got out of it is worth more than that. I love Half Price Books.

Book Count: 1180.

10 Books A Day: #103

The Way Of Hermes...tr. Clement Salaman, Dorine Van Oyen, William D. Wharton, & Jean-Pierre Mahe...Inner Traditions

The Golden Bough...Sir James George Frazer...The Macmillan Company

Hebrew Myths: The Book Of Genesis...Robert Graves & Raphael Patai...Greenwich House

The Book Of Ceremonial Magic...A. E. Waite...University Books

The History Of Magic...Kurt Seligmann...Pantheon Books

Russian Myths...Elizabeth Warner...The British Museum Press

A Dictionary Of Angels...Gustav Davidson...Free Press

The Malleus Malificarum...Heinrich Kramer & James Sprenger, ed. Montague Summers...Dover

Giants, Monsters & Dragons...Carol Rose...W. W. Norton & Company

An Encyclopaedia Of Occultism...Lewis Spence...Dover

Book Count: 1180.

10 Books A Day: #102

Cassell Dictionary Of Superstitions...David Pickering...Cassell

An Encyclopedia Of Fairies...Katherine Briggs...Pantheon

The Oxford Companion To Fairy Tales...ed. Jack Zipes...Oxford University Press

No Go The Bogeyman...Marina Warner...Chatto & Windus

A Dictionary Of English Folklore...Jacqueline Simpson And Steve Roud...Oxford University Press

Texas Folk And Folklore...Mody C. Boatright, Wilson M. Hudson, Allen Maxwell...Southern Methodist University Press

British Folktales...Katherine Briggs...Pantheon

The History Of Witchcraft And Demonology...Montague Summers...Castle Books

The Vanishing People: Fairy Lore And Legends...Katherine Briggs...Pantheon

From Flying Toads To Snakes With Wings...Dr. Karl P. N. Shuker...Bounty Books

I have quite a few books by Katherine Briggs, and they cover some of the same material a few times, but I would still love to get a copy of her ground-breaking The Anatomy of Puck, dealing with the folklore elements in Shakespear. With his volume on witchcraft I complete the famous troika of Montague Summers on werewolf, witch and vampire.

Book Count: 1170.

10 Books A Day: #101

All volumes are published by Senate.

Myth, Ritual And Religion, Volume I...Andrew Lang

Myth, Ritual And Religion, Volume II...Andrew Lang

The Sea...Angelo S. Rappoport

The Lore Of The Forest...Alexander Porteous

Witches & Warlocks...Philip W. Sergeant

Mysteries And Secrets Of Magic...C. J. S. Thompson

Middle Ages: Myths And Legends...H. A. Guerber

Mythical Monsters...Charles Gould

The Origins Of Popular Superstitions...T. Sharper Knowlson

The Folklore Calendar...George Long

Book Count: 1160.

10 Books A Day: #100

All volumes are published by Wordsworth.

Tales Of Old Japan...A. B. Mitford

Northern Mythology...Benjamin Thorpe

The Phantom World...Augustin Calmet

The Book Of Christmas...Thomas K. Hervey

The Mythology Of The British Isles...Charles Squire

British Dragons...Jacqueline Simpson

The Wordsworth Dictionary Of Phrase And Fable...Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, rev. Ivor H. Evans

The Wordsworth Dictionary Of The Occult...Andre Nataf

Culpeper's Complete Herbal...Nicholas Culpeper

The Wordsworth Dictionary Of The Underworld...Eric Partridge

On the whole, I prefer old books of legend and lore. New ones tend to be too analytical, or interpretations from politically correct or "pagan" points of view. I like the Wordsworth, or the Senate, or the Dover reprints; the stories seem somehow thicker, richer, more authentic, which is odd because their recounting is often simpler. Probably the newest book here is British Dragons, from 1980. The Wordsworth Dictionary of the Underworld is a book on the terms of the criminal underworld, not Hell; one of the most interesting things I read (it was a specific 'drop', but I can't remember the exact phrase) was selling a fake piece of jewelry while pretending you're trying to get rid of it fast as stolen. The deviousness of this scam is fascinating.

Book Count: 1150.