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ESPERANTO (etc)
Over the years, there have been literally hundreds of proposals for artificial languages - and a surprising number of these suggestions have resulted in a language of some sort actually being invented. Many of these have been intended as what it technically known as an International Auxiliary Language (IAL): the idea of an IAL is that it is a neutral way for people with different mother tongues to communicate with one another on a basis of equality. Many people have seen this idea as being important to help the survival of the "smaller" natural anguages, since - if an IAL were widely used - it would help the world to get away from the existing tendency for the "big" languages to kill off the smaller ones. The idea is that people would know just their local and/or national language(s) plus whatever was the agreed IAL - the latter would be used for all international communication. The most famous - and much the most widely used - International Auxiliary Language is Esperanto. It is true, however, that some linguists make serious criticisms of it, in terms of how ideal it is for its purpose, and there are various alternative IALs which are seen as being technically superior. Needless to say, despite what one presumes are the altruistic motives of the adherents of the various IALs, there are from time to time vitriolic debates between the proponents of the different languages. All the books that Housmans currently has in this category are in, or about, Esperanto; though we might well stock material relating to other IALs at some stage in the future. We have some books from which you can learn Esperanto, some texts in the language - these are mostly translations (of both fiction and non-fiction) from other languages) - and some newsletters produced by Esperantist organisations. The following booklist includes most of our current stock in this field. Note that, although many of the items shown were published some years back, they are generally not second- hand unless marked as such. And please remember that if you can't visit Housmans in person, we will post your books to you quickly and efficiently. For more details of our mail order service, please see our main Books page. BOOKS ABOUT ESPERANTO Step by Step in Esperanto, Montagu C Butler (Esperanto Publishing Company, Australia, 1979), 284pp, hbk, £7.50 A good "teach yourself" guide to Esperanto, for English speakers.
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Esperanto in the Modern World, (Eds) Rudiger and Vilma Sindona Eichholz (Esperanto Press, Canada, 1982), 600pp, hbk, £22.50 Studies and articles on "language problems, the right to communicate, and the [sic] Inter- national Language". The constituent material dates from the period 1959-1982.
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A Practical Course in Esperanto, Ferenc Szilagyi (Esperanto Publishing Co, 1964) 100pp, pbk, £3.00
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MATERIAL IN ESPERANTO La Morto de la Cielarko, Endre Ady (Hungarian Esperanto Association, 1977), 90pp, pbk, £2.80 Translated poetry from an important figure in early 20th-Century Hungarian literature.
Vizagoj, Ivo Andric (Esperanto League of Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1981), 64pp, pbk, £2.00 Short novel (Faces), by award-winning 20th-Century Yugoslav author.
Kvaropo, William Auld, John Dinwoodie, John Francis, Reto Rossetti (Hungarian Esperanto Association, 1977), 256pp, pbk, £2.80 Poetry.
La Nekonata Konato, Douglas P Boatman (TK, Copenhagen, 1977), 124pp, pbk, £3.75
Trigrosa Romano, Bertolt Brecht (Edition Leipzig, 1977), 374pp, hbk, £7.50 Brecht's 1934 classic.
La Rakontoj de Canterbury - Prologo, Geoffrey Chaucer (Kardo, Coatbridge, 1980), 12pp, pbk, £1.00 A verse translation by WB Johnson of the Prologue to Chaucer's 14th-Century Canterbury Tales.
Imaga Dialogo Marks/Bakunin, Maurice Cranston (France, 1982), 32pp, pbk, £1.00 An imaginary dialogue between Marx and Bakunin.
Jahto Veturas for ... kaj Veturigas la Morton, Deck Dorval (Flanders Esperanto League, Antwerp, 1983), 192pp, pbk, £5.80 An Esperanto-language original.
Al Torento, Stellan Engholm (Danish Esperanto Association, 1972), 96pp, pbk, £2.45
La Libro de la Amo, Raoul Follereau (Edizioni Gabrielli, 1977), 68pp, pbk, £2.00
Riporto Skribita en la Pendumila Maso, Julius Fucik (Prague, 1979), 112pp, pbk, £2.20 Written by a communist journalist just months before his killing by the Nazis, aged 40, in 1943. Translated in 1951 from a manuscript previously thought lost.
Dona Barbara, Romulo Gallegos (Venezuela Esperanto Association, 1975), 264pp, pbk, £4.80
Stato kaj Revolucio, Lenin (Pirato Books, Osaka, Japan, 1967), 154pp, pbk, £2.50 A 1926 translation of the December 1918 version (the 2nd edition) of this classic.
Batalo pri la Domo Heikkila, Johannes Linnankoski (Otava, Heklsinki, 1919), 64pp, pbk, £5.00 Linnankoski was a pseudonym for the eminent Finnish writer Juho Vihtori Peltonen (1869-1913).
La Turoj de l'Cefurbo, Mauro Nervi (Manchester, 1978), 120pp, pbk, £3.50 Poetry.
La Montara Krono, Petro Petrovic Njegos (OBOD, Cetinje, Montenegro, Yugoslavia, 1970), 274pp, hbk, £5.00 A play about the history of Montenegro.
Marvirina Luno, Joan Pomfret (Morecambe Bay Esperanto Society, 1978), 144pp, pbk, £2.60 A novel (Mermaid's Moon) set in 18th-Century Lancashire.
La Nova Butikisto de Nukugaia, Bertram Potts (TK, Antwerp, 1978), 252pp, pbk, £4.75
Kredu min Sinjorino!, Cezaro Rossetti (SATEB, 1974), 260pp, pbk, £4.80
Trezorinsulo, Robert Louis Stevenson (Kardo, Coatbridge, 1980), 192pp, pbk, £3.40 A translation of the classic Treasure Island.
Unua Vojago de Gulivero - Liliputo, Jonathan Swift (Frank Maitland, 1961), 64pp, pbk, £2.00 The Liliput chapter from the classic Gulliver's Travels.
Pri La Varmo, Judr M Tuma (Czech Esperanto Society, 1972), 216pp, pbk, £3.00 The basic physics of heat.
Meze de Europo (Prague, 1980), 100pp, pbk, £2.00 Some aspects of the history of Czechoslovakia.
Konstitucio por Tera Federigo (Esperanto Press, Ontario, Canada, 1977), 56pp, pbk, £3.00 A proposed world federalist constitution from the Association for World Constitution and World Government.
Makedona Antologio (La Progreso Esperanto Society, Prilep, Macedonia, Yugoslavia, 1981), 156pp, pbk, £3.00 Translated prose and poetry from Macedonia.
Slovaka Antologio (Slovak Pedagogic Publishers, Bratislava, 1977), 540pp, hbk, £7.50 Prose - and some poetry - from a wide range of Slovak authors.
ESPERANTO ORGANISATIONS' NEWSLETTERS and MAGAZINES Komencanto - gazeto por komencantaj autoroj kaj komencantaj esperantistoj 1999/8 (Ekaterinburg, Russia), 12pp, A4, £1.00 Komencanto - gazeto por komencantaj autoroj kaj komencantaj esperantistoj 2000/1 (Ekaterinburg, Russia), 12pp, A4, £1.00 Komencanto - gazeto por komencantaj autoroj kaj komencantaj esperantistoj 2000/3 (Ekaterinburg, Russia), 12pp, A4, £1.00 Komencanto - gazeto por komencantaj autoroj kaj komencantaj esperantistoj 2000/7 (Ekaterinburg, Russia), 12pp, A4, £1.00 Komencanto - gazeto por komencantaj autoroj kaj komencantaj esperantistoj 2000/8 (Ekaterinburg, Russia), 12pp, A4, £1.00 Komencanto - gazeto por komencantaj autoroj kaj komencantaj esperantistoj 2001/3 (Ekaterinburg, Russia), 12pp, A4, £1.00 Komencanto - gazeto por komencantaj autoroj kaj komencantaj esperantistoj 2001/4 (Ekaterinburg, Russia), 12pp, A4, £1.00