Minis
Mini Copy Book

Each post in this section is a short précis (summary) of a passage in The Copy Book. All of them are in modern English. They are intended for students of English as a Foreign Language at Elementary Level.

Discovery and Invention

Heathcoat’s Bobbinet

John Heathcoat’s lace-making machine created thousands of jobs, and gave ordinary people clothes they could never have dreamt of.

Length: 49 words

Mediaeval History

Our Lady’s Mantle

Shortly after Askold and Dir founded Kiev in 862, they launched a brazen but ill-fated assault on the capital of the Roman Empire.

Length: 113 words

Extracts from Literature

The Duel

Sir Mulberry Hawk’s coarse conduct towards Kate Nickleby has awoken a spark of decency in Lord Frederick Verisopht.

Length: 108 words

Greek and Roman Myths

Heracles and the Augean Stables

Heracles shows his capacity for thinking outside the box, but spoils it by trying to be just a little bit too clever.

Length: 60 words

Mediaeval History

Merchants of Muscovy

In 1553, Richard Chancellor set out on a perilous voyage to Russia in order to bypass the Hanseatic League’s customs union.

Length: 111 words

Lives of the Saints

Not a Scratch!

Hapless extremists try to wipe out a miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary.

Length: 51 words