The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Amiel to Atrauli by Various

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The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Amiel to Atrauli by Various

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By Betty Young Posted on Jan 14, 2026

In Category - Tech Balance

Authors: Various Published By : Various

Book Language: English

Okay, so picture this: you've inherited a dusty old encyclopedia volume from 1906. It covers just one tiny slice of the alphabet—Amiel to Atrauli. Sounds like a total snooze, right? That's what I thought. But then I actually opened it. This isn't a sterile Wikipedia entry. It's a time capsule. You get this incredibly earnest, sometimes hilariously outdated, snapshot of how the world looked to educated people at the very start of the 20th century. You'll find entries on French philosophers, obscure Indian towns, ancient armor, and the 'correct' way to play a card game called 'Auction Pitch.' The real mystery here isn't in the entries themselves, but in the worldview they collectively create. It's like listening to a very smart, very confident, and occasionally very wrong grandparent explain the universe. I found myself completely absorbed, not just by what they knew, but by what they thought was important enough to include. It's a quiet, fascinating journey into the mind of a bygone era, one random fact at a time.

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garment and buy one.’ _St. Luke_ xxii. 36. ‘_Solo la spada vuol magnificarsi._’ (Nothing is high and awful save the Sword.) _Lod. della Vernaccia_, A.D. 1200. ‘But, above all, it is most conducive to the greatness of empire for a nation to profess the skill of arms as its principal glory and most honourable employ.’ BACON’S _Advancement of Learning_, viii. 3. ‘The voice of every people is the Sword That guards them, or the Sword that beats them down.’ TENNYSON’S _Harold_. +--------------------------------------------------+ | | | TO | | | | THE MEMORY | | | | OF | | | | MY OLD AND DEAR COLLEGE FRIEND | | | | ALFRED BATE RICHARDS | | | | WHO | | | | IN YEARS GONE BY | | | | ACCEPTED THE DEDICATION OF THESE PAGES | | | +--------------------------------------------------+ FOREWORD. ‘I wanted a book on the Sword, not a treatise on Carte and Tierce,’ said the Publisher, when, some years ago, my earliest manuscript was sent to him. It struck me then and there that the Publisher was right. Consequently the volume was re-written after a more general and less professional fashion. I have only one wish that reader and reviewer can grant: namely, a fair field and no favour for certain ‘advanced views’ of Egyptology. It is my conviction that this study, still in its infancy, will greatly modify almost all our preconceived views of archæological history. RICHARD F. BURTON. TRIESTE: _November 20, 1883_. INTRODUCTION. The history of the Sword is the history of humanity. The ‘White Arm’ means something more than the ‘oldest, the most universal, the most varied of weapons, the only one which has lived through all time.’ He, she, or it—for the gender of the Sword varies—has been worshipped with priestly sacrifices as a present god. Hebrew revelation represents the sharp and two-edged Sword going out of the mouth of the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. We read of a ‘Sword of God, a holy Sword,’ the ‘Sword of the Lord and of Gideon’; and ‘I came not to send peace but a Sword,’ meaning the warfare and martyrdom of man. On a lower plane the Sword became the invention and the favourite arm of the gods and the demi-gods: a gift of magic, one of the treasures sent down from Heaven, which made Mulciber (‘Malik Kabír,’ the great king) divine, and Voelunder, Quida, Galant, or Wayland Smith a hero. It was consecrated to the deities, and was stored in the Temple and in the Church. It was the ‘key of heaven and hell’: the saying is, ‘If there were no Sword, there would be no law of Mohammed’; and the Moslem brave’s highest title was ‘Sayf Ullah’—Sword of Allah. Uniformly and persistently personal, the Sword became no longer an abstraction but a Personage, endowed with human as well as superhuman qualities. He was a sentient being who spoke, and sang, and joyed, and grieved. Identified with his wearer he was an object of affection, and was pompously named as a well-beloved son and heir. To surrender the Sword was submission; to break the Sword was degradation. To kiss the Sword was, and in places still is, the highest form of oath and homage. Lay on our royal Sword your banished hands says King Richard II. So Walther of Aquitaine:— Contra Orientalem prostratus corpore partem Ac nudum retinens ensem hac cum voce precatur. The Sword killed and cured; the hero when hopeless fell upon his Sword; and the heroine, like Lucretia and Calphurnia, used the blade standing. The Sword cut the...

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Let's be clear: The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Amiel to Atrauli is not a novel. There's no plot, no characters in the traditional sense. It's a single, very specific volume from a massive reference set published over a century ago. Think of it as a literary artifact you might find on a shelf in a Victorian study.

The Story

There is no story in the conventional way. Instead, the 'narrative' is the journey of human knowledge as it stood in 1906. You start with 'Amiel,' referencing the Swiss philosopher Henri-Frédéric Amiel, and you travel alphabetically through entries on things like 'Ammonites' (the fossil, not the people), 'Anarchism' (described with a fascinating period bias), 'Antimony' (the metal), and 'Atrauli' (a town in India). The entries are concise, authoritative for their time, and cover an astonishing range: science, biography, geography, mythology, and social concepts. Reading it straight through is a bizarre and enlightening experience—you never know if the next page will explain a type of ancient Greek vase or detail the rules of a now-forgotten parlor game.

Why You Should Read It

You read this book for the perspective, not the facts. It’s a masterclass in how knowledge is framed. The absolute certainty in the descriptions is striking. The world is explained, categorized, and settled. The entry on 'Aeronautics,' for instance, is charmingly optimistic about airships and barely mentions airplanes, which were then in their infancy. It’s a humbling reminder that our own 'encyclopedic' knowledge will look just as quaint to people a hundred years from now. I found myself most engaged by the glimpses of social attitudes and the choices of what was deemed 'essential' knowledge for a literate person of the Edwardian age.

Final Verdict

This is a niche but wonderful read for a specific kind of person. It's perfect for history buffs who love primary sources, for writers seeking authentic period flavor, or for any curious reader who enjoys falling down Wikipedia rabbit holes and wonders what that experience was like before the internet. It’s not for someone seeking a gripping story. But if you want to spend a few quiet hours time-traveling through the pages of a book that truly believes it has the final word on everything from 'Amiens' to 'Atrophy,' you'll find it strangely captivating. Approach it as a museum piece, and you'll be richly rewarded.

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