A Prince of Anahuac: A Histori-traditional Story Antedating the Aztec Empire

Porter, James A., 1836-1897Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.9
Word count
568K words
Chapters
57

Tags

English Originals Historical Fiction Historical ReappraisalAdventure JourneyHeroismAncient LegendMesoamerican TaleAztec

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 Prince of Anahuac: A Histori-traditional Story Antedating the Aztec EmpireAuthor: Porter, James A., 1836-1897,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Dec 24, 2012

Editor's review

This work tells the story of the Anahuac region before the rise of the Aztec Empire in a legendary style; it is a narrative of a historical-traditional nature rather than a strict work of history. Its value lies in offering readers a picture of ancient Central America imbued with literary imagination, suitable as introductory, atmospheric reading for those interested in pre-Columbian Mexican history and legend. The English original is freely available from Project Gutenberg, making it easy to obtain and read across devices. Note that the book blends legend with history; readers should maintain a critical awareness and not treat it as archaeological or documentary evidence. It can be read alongside general histories of Mesoamerican civilization, allowing readers both to enjoy the narrative appeal of the story and to build a more reliable historical framework. Overall, it is better suited as light reading to broaden one's horizons than as a research reference.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Skim a brief history of Mesoamerican civilization first to establish a chronological and geographical framework before entering the story.
  2. Distinguish legendary elements from historical background while reading, and note questions for later verification.
  3. Use a map to match place names in the book, enhancing spatial sense and immersion.

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

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FAQ

Is this book a strict work of history? No. The title identifies it as a historical-traditional story, and the content contains literary imagination and legendary elements. It is suitable as reading to understand the atmosphere of the pre-Aztec period, but should not be used as rigorous historical material.
What background knowledge is needed before reading? It is best to have a basic understanding of ancient Mesoamerican civilization and roughly where the Aztec Empire fits in time. With no background at all, reading a brief overview of the civilization's history first will make the book smoother to approach.
What about the book's language and how to obtain it? The book is in English, freely released as an e-book by Project Gutenberg and available for direct download. The English is moderately to fairly difficult, suitable for readers with some English reading ability.

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About the author

Porter, James A., 1836-1897 Author · 1836–1897

James A. Porter (1836–1897) is a nineteenth-century author about whose life very little is publicly known; neither his nationality nor his educational background has been clearly recorded. What can be confirmed is that only one work by him has come down to us, A Prince of Anahuac: A Histori-traditional Story Antedating the Aztec Empire. Judging from its title and subject, the book draws on Central American legends from the period before the rise of the Aztec Empire, weaving history and tradition into a narrative imbued with the imaginative color of an ancient civilization. Because this is his only surviving work, his overall style as a writer cannot be fully assessed, and the book's influence has remained largely confined to readers interested in pre-Columbian civilizations. His life and the background of his writing still await further research.