Chapter 5 of A Book of Prefaces is here in full — 436 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of A Book of Prefaces is here in full — 436 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
[32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911. [33] New York, Doubleday, Page & Co., 1913. [34] The Drift of Romanticism; Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913. [35] New York, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1916. [36] New York, Chas.
Chapter 5 of A Book of Prefaces is here in full — 436 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/87 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
be in motion due to some air or water current
From this reading “[34] The Drift of Romanticism; Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.”
a republic in central Europe; split into East Germany and West Germany after World War II and reunited in 1990
From this reading “[32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.”
United States publisher who founded a printing shop that became an important book publisher (1823-1895)
From this reading “[34] The Drift of Romanticism; Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.”
United States publisher of magazines (1898-1967)
From this reading “[32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.”
plural of “mask” — a covering to disguise or conceal the face
From this reading “[32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.”
United States anthropologist noted for her claims about adolescence and sexual behavior in Polynesian cultures (1901-1978)
From this reading “[35] New York, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1916.”
plural of “minstrel” — a singer of folk songs
From this reading “[32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.”
impractical romantic ideals and attitudes
From this reading “[34] The Drift of Romanticism; Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [33] New York, Doubleday, Page & Co., 1913.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [35] New York, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1916.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [33] New York, Doubleday, Page & Co., 1913.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [34] The Drift of Romanticism; Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [35] New York, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1916.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [36] New York, Chas.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading [32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.
state capital and largest city of Massachusetts; a major center for banking and financial services
From this reading [32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [36] New York, Chas.
an odorless very poisonous gas that is a product of incomplete combustion of carbon
From this reading [32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [35] New York, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1916.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [33] New York, Doubleday, Page & Co., 1913.
be in motion due to some air or water current
From this reading [34] The Drift of Romanticism; Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.
a republic in central Europe; split into East Germany and West Germany after World War II and reunited in 1990
From this reading [32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.
United States publisher who founded a printing shop that became an important book publisher (1823-1895)
From this reading [34] The Drift of Romanticism; Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading [32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.
United States publisher of magazines (1898-1967)
From this reading [32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.
plural of “mask” — a covering to disguise or conceal the face
From this reading [32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.
United States anthropologist noted for her claims about adolescence and sexual behavior in Polynesian cultures (1901-1978)
From this reading [35] New York, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1916.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading [34] The Drift of Romanticism; Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.
plural of “minstrel” — a singer of folk songs
From this reading [32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading [32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading [32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.
one side of one leaf (of a book or magazine or newspaper or letter etc.) or the written or pictorial matter it contains
From this reading [33] New York, Doubleday, Page & Co., 1913.
impractical romantic ideals and attitudes
From this reading [34] The Drift of Romanticism; Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading [34] The Drift of Romanticism; Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.
a heavy grey-white metallic element; the pure form is used mainly in electrical applications; it is found in several ores including wolframite and scheelite
From this reading [32] Masks and Minstrels of New Germany; Boston, John W. Luce & Co., 1911.
the English royal house (a branch of the Plantagenet line) that reigned from 1461 to 1485; its emblem was a white rose
From this reading [33] New York, Doubleday, Page & Co., 1913.
Chapter 5 of A Book of Prefaces by H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken holds 436 sentences, grouped into 88 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 5 holds 436 sentences of A Book of Prefaces, unabridged, divided into 88 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of A Book of Prefaces by H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 436 sentences, grouped into 88 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 88 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 88 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 5 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading A Book of Prefaces by H. L. (Henry Louis) Mencken on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2481 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #19355 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #19355, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 206 minutes of reading across 497 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Book of Prefaces section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 6 chapters of A Book of Prefaces to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in A Book of Prefaces, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
