Saturday Good Reads

Would poet Percy Bysshe Shelley have voted for Brexit? No one can answer that question, but The Guardian notes the publication of a lost Shelley poem that excoriated the ruling class. (Come to think of it, he probably would have moved permanently to Italy, which he did anyway.)

It was another week of election coverage. We here in Missouri survived millions of robo-calls on our telephones and the mass slaughter of millions of trees for campaign literature and now have a unique choice for governor – a Republican who became a Democrat and a Democrat who became a Republican. Donald Trump spoke, as he is wont to do, and a media firestorm erupted. Hillary Clinton was interviewed by Chris Matthews at Fox, and didn’t exactly tell the truth about lying. In USA Today, Glenn Harlan Reynolds, the University of Tennessee law professor better known as Instapundit, asks, and answers, who’s to blame for the two major presidential candidates.

Some wonderful things from Britain: BBC will be broadcasting some lost recordings of J.R.R. Tolkien; Cambridge University has a story about the art and science of illuminated manuscripts; and Spitalfields Life published photographs of the old bookshops of London (making me wish we had time travel).

Some wonderful poetry and photographs, a beautiful video on the desire to see memories in advance, and Megan Willome reflects on what her father did at the University of Texas the day the sniper rained down death.

British Stuff

BBC to Broadcast Lost Tolkien Recordings – The Tolkien Society.

Do Put Down That Revolver: A Review of The Long Weekend: Life in the English Country House Between the Wars – Rosemary Hill at London Review of Books (Hat Tip: J of India).

The Antiquarian Bookshops of Old London – Spitalfields Life (Hat Tip: Janet Young).

Life and Culture

Did former Democratic Governor Richard Lamm of Colorado really give a speech ripping multiculturalism? – Snopes.com.

What Pledges Should Leaders Keep? – Jon Mertz at Thin Difference.

Does French Culture Have a Future? – Pierre Mannet at First Things Magazine.

A Big Campus Trend: Ignorance of U.S. History – John Leo at Minding the Campus.

Who's to blame for Hillary and Donald? – Glenn Harlan Reynolds at USA Today.

What happened to my party? – Joel Kotkin at The Orange County Register.

Aug. 1, 1966 - Megan Willome.

Faith

Agreeing to disagree agreeably – Ted Gossard at Jesus Community.

Jane Austen’s Prayer – Tim Challies at Informing the Reforming.

What to Do When You Are in a Spiritual Dry Spell – Scott Slayton at One Degree to Another.

Why Loss Comes Before Excellence – Mick Silva.

Poetry

Fall to Peaces – Jerry Barrett at Gerald the Writer.

Wish You Were Here – Megan Willome.

Substance – Barbara Mackenzie at Signed…BKM.

Poem for Drew: Twenty-two – Maureen Doallas at Writing Without Paper.

Lost Shelley poem execrating 'rank corruption' of ruling class made public – Alison Flood at The Guardian.

Art and Photography

Small Living Things – Tim Good at Pics, Poems, and Ponderings.

COLOUR: The art and science of illuminated manuscripts – Cambridge University.

Ornamental Details, Missouri History Museum – Chris Naffziger at St. Louis Patina.

Writing

Once in a million words, a romantic writing moment – David Murray at Writing Boots.

Avenoir: The Desire to See Memories in Advance – The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

Painting: The Book Workworm, oil on canvas by Carl Spitzweg (1850).