Cosimo Classics

A Grammar of the Arabic Language is a detailed Arabic grammar tutorial, originally written in German by Carl Caspari and translated by British Orientalist William Wright. Often referred to today as Wright's Grammar, the second edition was altered and added to by Wright, and this third (and original final) edition was edited by famous Orientalists M.J. de Goeje and W. Robertson Smith. Wright consulted numerous Arabic sources when making additions and corrections to the work, and as such it is still useful today to students of the Arabic language. WILLIAM WRIGHT (1830-1889) was a British Orientalist and professor of Arabic at Cambridge University. His works are still researched and studied today by students of Arabic and Syriac. His most popular works remain A Grammar of the Arabic Language and the Short History of Syriac Literature. His writings are held today by the British Library and Cambridge University.

A Grammar of the Arabic Language is a detailed Arabic grammar tutorial, originally written in German by Carl Caspari and translated by British Orientalist William Wright. Often referred to today as Wright's Grammar, the second edition was altered and added to by Wright, and this third (and original final) edition was edited by famous Orientalists M.J. de Goeje and W. Robertson Smith. Wright consulted numerous Arabic sources when making additions and corrections to the work, and as such it is still useful today to students of the Arabic language. WILLIAM WRIGHT (1830-1889) was a British Orientalist and professor of Arabic at Cambridge University. His works are still researched and studied today by students of Arabic and Syriac. His most popular works remain A Grammar of the Arabic Language and the Short History of Syriac Literature. His writings are held today by the British Library and Cambridge University.

"The customs of all countries are strange to untrained eyes, and one of the most interesting mysteries of my life here is my own gradual but inevitable mental evolution." -Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto, A Daughter of the Samurai (1926) A Daughter of the Samurai (1926) by Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto is the insightful account of the author's drastic change of culture from feudal Japan to an arranged marriage in the United States. The story reveals her assimilation to life as a merchant's wife and her return to Japan as a widow and mother to two daughters. Sugimoto's keen observations of the American way of life and its sharp contrast to her native Japan provide a rich reading experience for anyone interested in gaining or deepening their understanding of living in two different cultures.

"The customs of all countries are strange to untrained eyes, and one of the most interesting mysteries of my life here is my own gradual but inevitable mental evolution." -Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto, A Daughter of the Samurai (1926) A Daughter of the Samurai (1926) by Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto is the insightful account of the author's drastic change of culture from feudal Japan to an arranged marriage in the United States. The story reveals her assimilation to life as a merchant's wife and her return to Japan as a widow and mother to two daughters. Sugimoto's keen observations of the American way of life and its sharp contrast to her native Japan provide a rich reading experience for anyone interested in gaining or deepening their understanding of living in two different cultures.

GEORGE WESTINGHOUSE the man may be overshadowed by his inventions, company, or legend. But in this biography by Henry G. Prout, Westinghouse's personal life and history are recounted along with his many inventions and enterprises -- and his inventions and enterprises were enormous. "He dealt in the same week, and often in the same day, with organization, financial and executive affairs, commercial affairs, and the engineering details of half a dozen companies in two hemispheres," Prout noted. "They were as far apart in kind as the air brake and natural gas, and as far apart in geography as San Francisco and St. Petersburg." This biography covers topics as diverse as power signaling and switching, Westinghouse's use of the alternating current, his activities at Niagara Falls, his European enterprises, his financial methods, and his overall impact on rail transportation and the power industry.

Competition made the price of flour and cloth and shoes equal and reasonable; why should it make fares and freights unequal and unreasonable? Few indeed were they who could be made to see that the true cause of complaint was with an economical theory misapplied... The system was, indeed, fairly honeycombed with jobbery and corruption. -from "The Railroad Problem" In the middle to late 19th century, a morass of civic and social concerns ensnared private corporations-the railroads-that provided what was essentially a public service. The "railroad problem" was only beginning to dramatically impact the United States when, in 1878, Charles Francis Adams, Jr., an expert on railroad management and the future president of the Union Pacific Railroad wrote Railroads: Their Origin and Problems. Through an exploration of the state of the industry in the U.S., Great Britain, and Europe, Adams examines issues of free trade, corporate power, government support of a public utility, and even social engineering: how do technology and the government's power to tax and subsidize shape society? The great railroads of the 19th century may have passed into history, but the issues they raised continue to concern us today. American businessman CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, JR. (1835-1915), the grandson of John Quincy Adams, was educated at Harvard and served in the Union Army during the Civil War, achieving the rank of brigadier general.

[T]he basic foundations of autocracy, whether it be class government or capitalism in the sense that a few men through unrestrained control of property determine the welfare of great numbers, is as far apart from the rightful expression of American individualism as the two poles. -from American Individualism Before he became president of the United States, Herbert Hoover organized massive programs to feed the starving after World War I. This compact treatise is the result of his experience in Europe, a defense of a moderate American liberalism that springs from the kindness, intelligence, and generosity of the people... and a call for the world to follow this example. Hoover would find this optimistic and munificent philosophy, published in 1922, sorely challenged only a few years later, when his new presidency was faced with the stock-market crash of 1929 and the resulting economic depression. With its peek inside the thinking that would eventually bring down Hoover's presidency, this is a remarkable little book, a reminder that the best of intentions aren't always enough. The 31st President of the United States, HERBERT HOOVER (1874-1964) was born in Iowa, educated at Stanford University, and made a fortune in mining interests. He was instrumental in numerous international war-relief efforts. He served as secretary of commerce under Presidents Harding and Coolidge, and was elected to the Oval Office in 1928.

What would be the rate of wages, if labor and capital were to remain fixed in quantity, if improvements in the mode of production were to stop, if the consolidating of capital were to cease and if the wants of consumers were never to alter? The question assumes, of course, that industry shall go on, and that, notwithstanding a paralysis of the forces of progress, wealth shall continue to be created under the influence of a perfectly unobstructed competition. -from the Preface John Bates Clark was the first American economist with an international reputation-this revolutionary 1899 work is what brought him that distinction. In clear, lucid language that makes his economic philosophy so plain we take it for granted today, Clark lays out his Marginal Productivity Theory of Distribution, a rebuttal to Marx and an apologetic for capitalism. Insisting that in a competitive market economy, all work is fully and fairly recompensed and all labor and capital are, in a very real sense, equal components, Clark shattered then widely held theories of economics with his groundbreaking thesis. And his work continues to influence the global financial situation today. American economist JOHN BATES CLARK (1847-1938), who also wrote the significant The Philosophy of Wealth (1885), was professor of political economy at Columbia University and one of the founders of the American Economic Association. The prestigious John Bates Clark Medal for economic thought is named for him.