Personal Library

Today, I am going to write a post which, for me, is quite unusual. I am going to write about my personal library, the program I currently use to catalog them, and suggest others to do something similar. But things will return to normal here soon.

On the side of the blog, if you have been astute, you will note I've added a link to a website where I list the books which are contained within my personal collection of books. It's not complete, and it might never be. I am constantly buying new books and I have stragglers which I keep forgetting to add. However, it is a fair representation of what I read. Currently (as of June 11, 2007), the domain where I placed my records has down, due to hackers attacking it. If it does not come back up, I will find a new place to host my records.

I would like to suggest anyone who collects books such as I to find a program like the one I use (Book Collector) to record what it is they own. The program I use is very easy to use, when adding to the books within your library, all you have to do is input either the ISBN, the author, or the title of the books, and it will search for the book and will fill out much of the data for you. I know many use Library Thing and it is another option for people interested in cataloging their books, though it does not record things the same way, and it does not give you all the options of Book Collector. By using it, I found out how much my book collection is worth. I was shocked when it came to the total -- many of the books I own have gone up drastically in price, and not down as one would expect with used books!

This is also a good way to keep track of what you own if you want to insure your book collection. More importantly, it can allow others to know what it is you own, and if they take the time, it can tell them something about you and your interests (as long as they don't believe all the books you own indicates your approval or agreement with what is inside them!). Try it out, and if the link works, look at the books I own. Some might surprise you, some might even shock you, but if so, just ask and I might be able to explain why they are there!

New Contributor

Like the Inklings before, The Well at the World's End will slowly open its ranks to include new contributors. They will be people who not only have shown their interest in the blog, but also the ability and willingness to provide meaningful material to the site.

We now have our first new contributor, Patrick. He has already become a significant dialogue partner on the blog, as anyone who has read the comments should know, and this change in his status just makes official what has already occurred unofficial.

With eager anticipation I want to welcome him to the contributors list and to say we look forward to any writing he might share with us here.

On The House of the Inklings

An astute observer might notice that the name of the blog is The Well at the World's End while the url for the blog calls itself The House of the Inklings. The two do not seem to go hand in hand and one might wonder what is the cause of this discrepancy.

Wonder no longer!

The Well at the World's End is an important and influential novel by William Morris. It tells the tale of one Ralph of Upmeads, the third and youngest son of a king, who searches for the "Well at the World's End" which is supposed to grant those who drink of it immortality. Not only was William Morris a prolific author, but he was one of the founders and main participants of the English Arts and Crafts movement. William Morris was a medievalist influenced by John Ruskin. Most of his novels also contained the foundations of modern fantasy literature.

J. R. R. Tolkien and several of his friends not only enjoyed the works of William Morris, but they also sought to continue to produce works in a similar vein. Early on he created the TCBS, the Tea Club and Barrovian Society, with his childhood friends Christopher Wiseman, Robert Quilter Gilson and Geoffrey Bache Smith. wanted to become a cultural phenomenon following the work of William Morris, the Arts and Crafts Movement, and the Pre-Raphaelites. During World War I two of the major members of the TCBS were killed, leaving Tolkien and Wiseman alive and slowly drifting apart. Tolkien never forgot his earlier TCBS membership and named his son, Christopher Tolkien, after Christopher Wiseman.

The early involvement with the TCBS helped lead Tolkien to develop another long-term friendship and literary society known as the Inklings. Not only would members of the Inklings get together to discuss politics, philosophy, theology, literature, they would share with each other the essays, stories, plays and novels they were currently working on, providing insightful and helpful critique for each other's works. Famous members of the Inklings included C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and Gervase Matthew. Tolkien's son Christopher and Lewis' brother Warnie were also important members of this society. Many of them, like Tolkien, enjoyed and were influenced by the works of William Morris.

Several aspects of Tolkien's works echo themes and ideas displayed in William Morris' The House of the Wolflings. Recognizing the aestheticism established by William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites, and continued by Tolkien with the Inklings, this url for The Well at the World's End honors both by calling itself The House of the Inklings. Like the House of the Wolflings, the contributors of this blog seek a common goal, like the Inklings, they seek to enrich the world through their literary, scholarly and aesthetic efforts.

Welcome to the House of the Inklings. May the good, the truth, and the beautiful enrich your life and encourage you to follow with us in the steps of the masters of old.

A Beginning Is A Very Delicate Time...

Moreso when one starts a new blog. What is its purpose? What is to be its function? Why should someone be interested in this blog when there are many others out there?

There are many Catholic blogs on the internet. Yet when one looks through them, one finds that many popular blogs tend to be reactionary, mean spirited, and often run by people influence more by their political background than their Catholic faith. A new, twisted form of Americanism has set itself as the guide of all that is Catholic, and bloggers with little or no theological training and no ecclesiatical authority judge the Church and her shepherds in light of their Americanist tendencies. When the Church agrees with them on one issue, they act as if it makes them one with the Church in all issues. When leaders of the Church disagree with them, while claiming to be conservative or traditional Catholics, they find ways to mock Church authority and to dismiss the Church's teachings as irrelevant or unnecessary when they do not suit their Americanist agenda.

Catholics deserve something better. Catholics deserve loyal, intelligent blogs striving to maintain Catholic principles over and above the Americanist Culture of Death. This, then, is the goal of The Well at The World's End. Commentary not only on current world events, but also on current theological debates, will be provided by the four administrators. Each of them have dedicated themselves to being a scholar the theological sciences. The unique blend of their diverse viewpoints, knowledge, and wit should allow for The Well At The World's End to be a blog like no other!