From the American and French revolutions to modern theories of consciousness to contemporary entertainment (the hit TV series Lost features a character named John Locke who espouses Lockeian concepts), the influence of English philosopher JOHN LOCKE (1632–1704) falls wide and deep over Western culture. Yet his writings are less familiar to even serious readers and students of philosophy than that of other great thinkers of recent centuries. Here, Cosimo proudly presents, in 10 volumes, a replica of the 1801 tenth edition of Locke’s collected ...

The tasks of the fleet mustered to invest the Cuban ports and convey the troops of the United States to their attack upon the island were by no means so simple. The coasts of the long island had many ports; it was presently known that Spanish squadron of four armored cruisers and three torpedo-boat destroyers, under Admiral Pascual Cervera, had left the Cape Verde Islands for the West Indies; it was possible to do little more than guess what port they would make for. —from Chapter III: “The End of a Century” Before he served as the 28th ...

This classic survey of one of the most dramatic eras in American history is most notable, perhaps, for the insight it offers into the mindset of the era itself. First published from 1893 through 1906, in the immediate aftermath of the events it covers, it was criticized even then for the author's clear bias-Rhodes believed it was a mistake to have given black men the right to vote after the Civil War. Today, it remains a fascinating look at the times through a prism that is itself of historical interest. This eight-volume set is a replica of the 1920 "new" ...

"Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more." -2 Samuel 7:10 John Cotton, a distinguished minister in England in the early seventeenth century, had been for years in contact with John Winthrop, a future leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England. When Winthrop decided to depart with a fleet of ships carrying Puritans to New England in 1630, Cotton traveled to the English town of Southampton and preached his famous farewell sermon God's Promise ...

Marco Polo tells a quaint story about a daughter of Kaidu’s, who was renowned for her fame in wrestling. She had sent challenges in all directions, offering to marry any many who should throw her, while he should forfeit 100 horses if he failed. In this way she had won 10,000 horses. He goes on to describe how a prince came from a distant land where he was renowned for his skill and strength, and was determined to win her or a lose a thousand horses; that both Kaidu and his wife tried to persuade their daughter to allow herself to be beaten; that she ...

City of the Sun, written in 1602, is Tommaso Campanella's contribution to the body of literature concerned with utopia, the philosophical search for the perfect society. Campanella's utopia was based on a form of communism in which all possessions, including women and children, were shared by men. The great city was ruled by a spiritual leader named Metaphysic, whom Power, Wisdom, and Love served, overseeing all aspects of the society. Wisdom ensures that the sciences are properly taught, while Love ensures that men and women breed the most perfect children. ...

He is all but forgotten today, but in his time, British author GEORGE WILLIAM MACARTHUR REYNOLDS (1814–1879) was a veritable Victorian Stephen King whose “penny dreadful” serials were more widely read than the works of Dickens, and shocked delighted readers with their lurid tales of murder, intrigue, and supernatural doings. This “horrible” tale, first published in 1851–2, opens in the year 1510 in an actual Gothic hall, where a young lady of “exquisite beauty” has been terribly affrighted. From there flows ...

The vulgar notion that the Templars were as wicked as they were fearless and brave, has not yet been entirely exploded; but it is hoped that the copious account of the proceedings against the order in this country... will tend to dispel many unfounded prejudices still entertained against the fraternity, and excite emotions of admiration for their constancy and courage, and of pity for their unmerited and cruel fate. Hard-to-find in print, this history of the elusive sect of military friars and their contributions to the romantic history of the last millennium ...

What saves both Christian sacramentalism and the ceremonial and ritual practices of Judaism from any tinge or taint of the magical is the strong conviction of the divine authorization of these rites. God is being obeyed by man's fulfillment of His terms, and in obedience to the divine injunction His will is being carried out. -from "Judaism and Sacramentalism" How did the rituals of the early Christian church grow out of Jewish ceremony? How are Christian and Jewish prayers alike, and how do they differ? How does inner spirituality connect to cultish behavior? ...