"Modern"

[Insert dictionary definitions here]

Words change. "Gay" isn't what it used to be, except on t.v., e.g., Modern Family.

What I do not understand about the word "modern" is it's inclusion in book titles whose subjects are subject to frequent change. We have many cookbooks with "modern" in the title, and almost all are over 50 years old. I have a bunch of books about "modern" home decorating.

[Insert scanned photo of a "modern" home from fill-in-the-blank '70s decorating book.]

The most interesting book I have in my library with the word "modern" in the title is Modern Eloquence Historical Masterpieces European. (If anyone knows of an American edition, call me.) The edition I have was published in 1943. Looks like there were editions also in '36 & '28 (with different publishers). Then there's a line that says

Previous Copyrights

1925, 1914, 1900

My crappy old modern book has a history.

Modern Eloquence begins ... . Wow. I haven't looked at this book in a long time. It begins with the "History of Oratory," followed by a funeral oration (Pericles). It ends with "An Appeal to the Italian People" (Churchill). 

It includes a chapter titled, "Martin Luther's 'Before the Diet of Worms'"  Being a Lutheran by Birth, I get a kick out of ML. Nail something up. 

From Prince Edward, Formerly Edward VIII:

And I want you to know that the decision I have made has been mine and mine alone. This was a thing I had to judge entirely for myself. The other person most nearly concerned has tried to the last to persuade me to take a different course. I have made this, the most serious decision of my life, only upon the single thought of what would, in the end, be best for all.

From his brother, George, on the radio, December 25, 1939:

The Festival we know as Christmas is above all a festival of peace and of the home. Among all free peoples the love of peace is profound, for this alone gives security to the home.


But true peace is in the hearts of men, and it is a tragedy of this time that there are powerful countries whose direction and policy are based on aggression and the suppression of all we hold dear for mankind.

...

"I said to a man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown,' and he replied, 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be better to you than a light and safer than a known way.'"

May that Almighty hand guide and uphold us all.

Modern Eloquence.