The Burns Encyclopaedia was first published in 1959 by Maurice Lindsay and this is the fourth edition - the first since 1980. All aspects of Robert Burns' biography and literary output are covered, as are his correspondents and contemporaries, many of the latter set against the backdrop of Enlightenment Edinburgh.
The comical efforts of the long-suffering Dean of `St Andrews College, University of Edinburgh' who has to deal with an extraordinary array of eccentric dons and research fellows.
Did you know that Shakespeare was a golfer? And that Rembrandt was no stranger to the fairway? Professor David Purdie takes a seriously humorous swipe at our collected knowledge of the game in this enlightening and entertaining compendium. Based on firm facts where available and on firm invention when not, the book examines the curious roles of the Golf Club, the golf ball and the golf player, explores the culture of the game across the world, including the USA, China and India - and sweeps aside all claims for the game's origin outside of Scotland. Accompanied by hilarious caricatures, The Greatest Game offers an alternative view of golf and tries to make some sense of the collective madness which pervades the links each day from dawn to sunset.
A central problem for the non-specialist reader over the works of Hume today is that his mellifluous 18th century prose appears strange to our eyes and ears... What follows, therefore, is what the present editors did about it. The central purpose is to open to Hume’s original target audience his writings on religious affairs; a subject which was of central importance to him – and which remains of perennial interest to humankind. David Hume’s writings on history, politics and philosophy have shaped thought to this day. His bold scepticism ranged from common notions of the ‘self ’ to criticism of standard theistic proofs. He insisted on grounding understandings of popular religious beliefs in human psychology rather than divine revelation, and he aimed to disentangle philosophy from religion in order to allow the former to pursue its own ends. In this book, Professors David W Purdie and Peter S Fosl decipher some of Hume’s most challenging texts for the modern reader, while preserving the sharp intellect and undaunted nerve for which Hume is famous. Hume’s spirit is brought alive for contemporary times and his writing is made accessible for its intended the general public.