Life — July 13, 1922 — page 3: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

' LIFE : 1 Are We a Nation of Low- Brows? It is charged that the public is intellectually incompetent. Is this true? It is charged that the public is afraid of ideas, disinclined to think, unfriendly to cul- The facts should be faced frankly and honestly. ture. Without Cultural Leadership. The main criticism, as we find it is that the people support ventures that are unworthy, that represent no cul- tural standards. The public is fed on low-brow reading matter, low-brow movies, low-brow theatrical productions, low-brow music, low-brow newspapers, \w magazines. As for ourselves, we k the criticism is unfair in that it docs not recognize the fact that the public is without cultural leadership. Those who have the divine spark get off by themselves. We believe the pub- lic has never had a real chance, never had an opportunity to get acquainted with the great and the beautiful things of life. Given half a chance, we think the public will respond. We believe there has been enough talk about the public’s inferior taste. This is a serious matter. The time has come to give the public an opportunity to find out something about philosophy, science and the higher things. And the thing must be done at a low price, because the average per- son’s pocketbook is not fat. As it stands, the publishers charge about five dollars a volume, and then wonder why the people stand aloof. We believe we have hit on a way to find out if the people are interested in the deeper problems of life. And the first thing we decided was to fix a price that shall be within the reach of the person with the most slender purse. We have selected a library of 25 books, which we are going to offer the public at an absurdly low price. We shall do this to find out if it is true that the public is not going to accept the better things when once given the chance. And we shall make the price so reasonable, so inviting, that there shall be no excuse on the ground of expense, All Great Things Are Simple. Once the contents of the following 25 books are absorbed and digested, we believe a person will be well on the road to culture. And by culture we do not mean something dry-as-dust, some- thing incomprehensible to the average mind—genuine culture, like great sculp- ture, can be made to delight the com- mon as well as the elect. The books listed below are all simple works and yet they are great—all great things are simple. They are serious works, of course, but we do not think the public will refuse to put its mind on serious topics. Here are the 25 books: Are the People Ready to Read These 25 Books ? Schopenhauer’s Essays. For those who re- gard philosophy as a thing of abstractions, vague and divorced from life, Schopenhauer will be a revelat The Trial and Death of Socrates, This is dramatic literature as well as sound philosophy. Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. This old Roman emperor was a paragon of wisdom and virtue. He will help you. The Discovery of the Future. H. G. Wells asks and answers the question: Is life just an unsolv:ble, haphazard struggle? Dialogues of Plato. This volume takes you into Plato's immortal circle. Foundations of Religion. Prof. Cook asks and = the question: Where and how did re- figious ideas originate? Studies in Pessimism. Schopenhauer | a serious and well-studied viewpoint of li substance of his philosophy. The Idea of God in Nature. John Stuart Mill. How the idea of God may come naturally from observation of nature is explained in this vol- ume resents je. The Life and Character. Goethe. The fruits of his study and observation is explained in this volume. Thoughts of Pascal. Pascal thought a great deal about God and the Universe and the origin and purpose of life. The Olympian Gods. ancient mythology. The Stoic Philosophy. Prof. Gilbert Murray. He tells what this belief consisted of, how it wa discovered and developed, and what’ we can to- day learn from it. God: Known and Unknown. Samuel Butler. A really important work. Nietzsche: Who He Was and What He Stood For. This is a carefully planned study. Sun Worship and Later Beliefs. Tichenor. A most important, study for those who wish to understand ancient religions. Primitive Beliefs. Tichenor. You idea from this account of the beliefs man. Tichenor, A study of et a clear primitive _ Three Lectures on Evolution. Ernst Haeckel’s ideas expressed so you can understand them. From Monkey to Man. A comprehensive re- view of the Darwinian theory. Survival of the Fittest. Another phase of the Darwinian theory. Evolution vs. Religion. You should read this discussion. Reflections on Modern Science. Prof. Hux- ley’s reflections definitely add to your knowledge. Biology and Spiritual Philosophy.. This is a very interesting and instructive worl Bacon’s Ess: These essays contain much sound wisdom that still holds. Emerson’s Essays. Emerson was a friend of Carlyle and in some respects a greater philos- opher. Tolstoi’s Essays. His ideas will direct you into many a profitable path of thought. 25 Books---2,176 Pages---Only $1.85---Send No Money If these 25 books were issued in the ordin: way they might cost you as much as a hundred dollars. We have deciied to issue them so you can get all of them for the price of one ordinary book. That sounds inviting, doesn’t it? \nd we mean it, too. Here are 25 books, containing 2,176 pages of text, all neatly printed on good book paper, 342x5 inches in size, bound securely in car] cover paper. You can take these 25 books with you when you go to and from work. You can read them in your spare moments. You can slip four or five of them into a pocket and they will not bulge. You can investigate the best and the sound- est ideas of the world’s greatest philoso- phers—and the price will be so low as to astonish you. No, the price will not be $25 for the 25 volumes. Nor will the price be $5, though they are worth _works offered at so low a price. more than that. The price will be even less than that sum. Yes, we mean it. Believe it or not, the price will be only $1.85 for the entire library. That's less than a dime a volume. In fact, that is less than eight cents per volume. Surely no one can claim he cannot afford to buy the best. Here is the very best at the very least. Never were such great you have to do is to sign your name and address on the blank below. You don’t have to send any money. Just mail us the blank and we will send you the 25 volumes described on this page —you will pay the postman $1.85 plus postage, And the books are yours. Positively no further payments. Are we making a mistake in adver- tising works of culture? Are we doing the impossible when we ask people to read serious works? Are we wasting our time and money? We shall see by the manner in which the blank below comes into our mail. = +++ Send No Money Blank - - - - Haldeman-Julius Company, Dept. 1258, Girard, Kans. I want the 25 books listed on this page. I want you to send me these 25 books by parcel post. On delivery I will pay the postman $1.85 plus postage, and the books are to be my property without further payments of any kind. Also, please send me one of your free 64-page catalogs. Note: Persons in Canada or other foreign countries must send cash with order, comicbooks.com