A Literary History of the English People, from the Origins to the Renaissance

Jusserand, J. J. (Jean Jules), 1855-1932Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.9
Word count
1.1M words
Chapters
111

Tags

English Originals Literary Appreciation Historical ReappraisalSocial ObservationEnglish Literary HistoryLiterary GiantsIntellectual EnlightenmentAcademic StudyTextual ResearchNational NarrativeMedieval to RenaissanceLiterary Tradition

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.A Literary History of the English People, from the Origins to the RenaissanceAuthor: Jusserand, J. J. (Jean Jules), 1855-1932,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jul 11, 2007

Editor's review

This is the first part of the history of English literature by the French scholar J. J. Jusserand, covering the period from the origins to the Renaissance. The author traces the formation of English literature by viewing literature and social life in mutual reflection, balancing historical background, linguistic evolution, and representative authors and works, with a European scholar's comparative perspective. As a free Project Gutenberg e-book, it is a useful reference for the early stages of English literary history, especially convenient for reading by period and cross-referencing. The book involves a great many historical figures and texts and requires some patience, but its structure is clear overall, making it suitable for literary history course reading lists or for self-learners building a knowledge framework.

Who it's for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the table of contents and introduction first to grasp the book's periodization and the focus of each chapter, then read selectively according to interest.
  2. Read alongside a chronology of major events in English history to situate literary phenomena in their era.
  3. After each chapter, compile a list of representative authors and works to build your own framework of literary history.
  4. Don't try to memorize the dense names of people and texts; first grasp the characteristics of the era and literary trends.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
  86. 86
  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
  94. 94
  95. 95
  96. 96
  97. 97
  98. 98
  99. 99
  100. 100
  101. 101
  102. 102
  103. 103
  104. 104
  105. 105
  106. 106
  107. 107
  108. 108
  109. 109
  110. 110
  111. 111

FAQ

Which period of English literary history does this book cover? According to the title and materials, the book covers English literature from its origins to the Renaissance, a study of the early stages of English literary history rather than a complete general history.
Is this book suitable as a textbook for systematic study? It can serve as a reference for literary history courses, with a clear structure organized by period. However, it was written long ago, and its views and materials do not represent the latest contemporary research; for systematic study, it should be used alongside current textbooks.
Is the English original difficult to read? As a scholarly work of literary history, it contains many names of people, texts, and historical terms, making it more difficult than general popular reading. A certain foundation in English reading is recommended, along with reference works and chronologies.

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About the author

Jusserand, J. J. (Jean Jules), 1855-1932 Author

Jean Jules Jusserand (1855–1932) was a French scholar and diplomat who wrote extensively in English on medieval English society and literature. Five of his works are held in this collection, including social histories such as English Wayfaring Life in the Middle Ages and La vie nomade et les routes d'Angleterre au 14e siècle, literary histories such as A Literary History of the English People, from the Origins to the Renaissance and The English Novel in the Time of Shakespeare, and With Americans of Past and Present Days. His writing is noted for solid use of sources and clear narration, often approaching daily details such as travel and roads to reconstruct medieval English life, and has had a measure of influence in English-language scholarship. Public information is limited, and details of his life and honors remain to be verified.