Branson now I'm drooling, about the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.  The Chaucer has a photocopy front and back of a page of the oldest copy and and the facing page is Middle English.  About "The Book of Kells," I know in the 70's my wife Kathy, who is a calligrapher, and me drooled over it but could not afford it.  I guess the old saying 'if you wait long enough, it will come at lest worked this time.  Do I read Old English?  No but I read Middle English or as it is better known Chaucerian English.  My favorite class in college.

Quote from: Stoney on November 07, 2011, 10:13:04 AM
Branson now I'm drooling, about the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.  The Chaucer has a photocopy front and back of a page of the oldest copy and and the facing page is Middle English.  About "The Book of Kells," I know in the 70's my wife Kathy, who is a calligrapher, and me drooled over it but could not afford it.  I guess the old saying 'if you wait long enough, it will come at lest worked this time.  Do I read Old English?  No but I read Middle English or as it is better known Chaucerian English.  My favorite class in college.

Anne Savage's translation of the Chronicles (1983, by St. Martin's/Marek) is an excellent translation.  I had to translate a photo copied page from a manuscript for my final exam in my first Old English class, so I checked her translation of that page.  Very well done, not an easy task.  The other copy I have is titled The Saxon Chronicle, translated by Reverend J.Ingram (1993 by Studio Editions, London) -- left half of the page in Old English, right half in Modern English.  Also a good translation.

We had to read, write (caligraphy) and speak both Old and Middle English for the classes.  I can still recite the Prologue to Canterbury Tales from memory.

On a lark I translated from Modern to Old English:

Naefre onginn laeran swyne hwistilan.  Thu gethagh aenne geswincan thine thrag, ond wen is that thu gremma seo swynne.

"Never try to teach a pig to whistle.  You'll only succeed in wasting your time, and probably pissing off the pig."  Robert Heinlein

Does your wife have a copy of Celtic Art: The Methods of Construction, by George Bain?  He has almost all of the alphabets used in the Book of Kells in a format that shows how to produce them.  It's available in a Dover edition for about ten bucks.

Back in the 60's when I took Middle English, after the first 2 weeks, if you could not read, write or speak Middle English you could not participate in the class.  You could not ask questions, answer test questions etc.  The whole class was held in Middle English.  My favorite class. 

We have the Dover book. I used it a lot in leather carving.

I have a Beowulf book that is Old English on the left page and Modern English on the right.  This is one of the books that the University saw fit to throw away along with a 1926 "Students Handbook of the Facts of English Literature" and a 1898 "Old and Middle English Reader."

Thanks Branson, I will look for the 2 translations that you mentioned.  You must have been an English major or minor.   

English major second, anthropology major first.  A lot of post graduate work in both. 

What's in the 1926 "Students Handbook of the Facts of English Literature?"

I recently picked up a copy of H.L. Menken's 1937 The American Language at the dump.  A very interesting read.

Quote from: pritch on November 05, 2011, 08:32:28 PM
I'm not sure what to do with them, I just couldn't let them go to waste. Maybe I'll haul them down to the swap meet next time I have a chance. I have some other stuff for the swap meet, too. The problem with stuff like this is the weight, for shipping.

Maybe we ought to get back to blacksmithing and these tools you found.  Tongs sell on eBay regularly.  I bought all the tongs for the Civil War artificer's tool chests on eBay, and didn't find the shipping too expensive.  I'm strapped for cash now, but a pair of those gad tongs would be nice.  I might be able to find a home for a couple of pairs among the folks I know here in California.  Do you have a price for shipping? and what would you want for a pair of tongs?

Branson/Pritch:

On the subject of shipping tongs:

The USPS has a large flat-rate box available for 14.95 shipping that they market for shipping board games.  Box measures 23-11/16 x 11-3/4 x 3 inches. I would say most of those tongs would fit in one. Might be a good option if a person were to buy several pairs from you. That would cut the shipping price down per item. Also, flat rate can ship up to 70 pounds!

I know several blacksmiths that would be interested in them as well. We always have newer members looking for tools in our association.

They wouldn't be hard to get rid of in the right place.

Awesome score!

I don't know a thing about 'smithing but I'm smart emough to know it certainly wasn't garbage! ...  Awesome.

I've been fortunate to find tongs cheaply, but where I come from, any decent, working pair of tongs is worth $20.