Customer Reviews

Treasury of the Familiar

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This is the most amazing book! It includes any famous quotes, speeches, stories, poems, songs, etc. It is like having a mini-encyclopedia in one book. We use it all the time in our homeschool. You have to have this book.

This book is the ONE book we take on ALL vacations! We usually go camping, and we read aloud many of the entries around the camp fire. Particular favorites are Poe's "The Raven", Robert W. Service's three poems, "Casey At The Bat", "The Face On The Floor", "When Father Carves A Duck", and (of course!) the story of the Creation (try page 10!). Lincoln's Gettysburg Address is another one of our favorites. THERE ARE TOO MANY TO LIST!!!!! An OUTSTANDING compendium of literature!

A lot of comments I've heard about this wonderful collection remark on
the odd juxtapositions within its pages: Shakespeare next to
"Silver Threads Among The Gold"; The Marine's hymn next to
Poe's "Raven"; Lincoln and Longfellow next to one of Dorothy
Parker's quips. It's true that this is one of this book's charms, but
I found something more to be prized. The "Treasury" is
exactly what it claims to be: a treasury of the hundreds of songs
you're familiar with but don't know by heart, and don't know where to
look up.

Everyone will have their own list of works they think
they'll never find again. Here's a partial list of mine; perhaps some
of these are ones you're hunting for too: Langdon Smith's
"Evolution" (When you were a tadpole and I was a fish/In the
Paleozoic time); Oliver Wendell Holmes' "The One-Hoss Shay";
Robert Service's "The Cremation of Sam McGee"; Henley's
"Invictus" (source of "I am the captain of my
soul"). And dozens more.

I found much I didn't care for here,
but much more I did. This is truly a remarkable collection. It
belongs on every bookshelf, if only because you'll never find another
source for so many of the poems within it. Buy it; you'll discover a
lot of old friends here.

I am seventy years old and I bought this book when I was a young man from a book of the month club. It is a great mix of poems and literature. They are from my parents era. My mother, who never read it, used to quote from some of them. My oldest daughter borrowed it and lost some twenty years ago.I have been looking for it ever since. Concurrently with my buying it on Amazon.com, my daughter had, un-beknownst to me, named her antique store after it. She used the poem "Where There's a Will, There's a Way" in an invitation to her son's graduation. Since then, I have bought a copy for a nephew and her son and her husband bought her a copy.

I am 63 years old and my father introduced me to this book and its contents when I was very young. Sprawling across my bed with him on his furloughs from the war I was given a supreme introduction to the delight of that other world of words and how to paint with them. If you have children from 3-103--get it and read it aloud together.--Mine has fallen apart.

We have copies of the 1942 edition of this book which contain poetry and snip-its of literature. The selections are diverse with pieces for many tastes. As a child many hours of pleasure was derived from the selections held within this volume. It will bring back memories for the past generations and a new door on poetry for the young. Happy reading.

I learned to read literature of many sorts when I was just a child. I've remembered passages from this book for nearly 50 years. This is a must-have volume of outstanding workmanship. Every homeschooler will benefit from having it in their reference library.

My parents bought a collection of books from a door-to-door salesman when I was very young. This book was included. My family used this book until it was visibly more worn than the rest. My favorite poem was "Casey at the Bat" and we all loved so many items in the book. In college I borrowed this book and lost it. We have all been so sad about that for years and years. I am so happy to find it again through Amazon.com! I will buy a copy for Mom and myself!

I discovered this book in the town library when I was in high school. I kept checking out this book over and over again and I couldn't get enough. My mom bought me the book one year and I was soo excited to own it for myself. It was one of the best presents I have ever gotten. The book is worn out now and I have to turn the pages delicately in fear of wearing them more. That just makes me love it more. My history since I have boughten the book is that I read it through and through and put it on the bookshelf for a year and forget about it. It doesn't take long before I long to read it again, I then pick it out of the bookshelf and fall in love with it all over again. If I had to choose only one book in the world that I could keep, it would be this one. Needless to say I love it!

I grew up with this book. My dad had one from his childhood (an original 1942 edition) which was used and used, the binding held together with duct tape. It was known in our house as "the Brown Book" and we were encouranged to memorize works from it. It seems that the source of all the the famous lines from literature can be found in here. "Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink." "And you Brutus?" Lincoln's Gettysburg address, George Washington's Farewell, even the letter from Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby (used in the movie "Saving Private Ryan.") This is a wonderful resource, reference book and collection of so many of the valued literary and historical pieces from our culture. Best of all, they are all in one tome. Even my five year old loves it when I read passages from it to her. Every house should have one.