Complete Collection of Thomas Paine's Writings

[DrWurm]

Hello everyone,

I'm an electrical engineering student taking an American literature course for the sole purpose of satisfying a GE. Despite a general disinterest in a lot of early literature, I feel a strong ideological connection to what I have read of Thomas Paine. As a result, I would like to read everything he has ever written. Does anybody know where I can get a hard copy of a book that will satisfy my yearning?

Jason

[dfloyd]

It was published by the Modern Library and it had a compilation of Paine's work in it. I read it when attending college in the 1960s. The Heritage Press published a nice edition of The Right's of Man which is generally available at ABE books. I can remember reading Common Sense: The Sunshine soldier and the summer patriot will soon desert his countrey in its time of need. But he who stay deserves the love of both man and woman .... Or somthing like that.

[Jozanny]

Jason, if you really like Paine, I suggest The Library of America edition, which I own. Plugging LOA in Google should find you a web site, but these are high quality stitch back binding, reasonable prices, from what I remember, and they do not publish just any old tripe. You have to have an American mythology behind you to be published by LOA.

I have had Paine for years, tried to start him and I opened him again recently, moved him onto my radio to remember, but I have far too many bookmarks. He does read fairly smoothly, despite the length of time between centuries, that I can say.

[DrWurm]

Jason, if you really like Paine, I suggest The Library of America edition, which I own.

Thank you! I found it and it looks like exactly what I'm looking for.

I definitely agree about how smoothly he reads considering the 200+ years time gap. I find Paine such an astounding figure for particularly that reason. Everything he thought and did was so unprecedented, especially considering the time in which he lived. I never imagined someone with ideas so nearly congruent to mine could exist in the 1700's. It's a real shame he died in obscurity.

Jason