A Voyage Round the World in the Years MDCCXL, I, II, III, IV

Anson, George Anson, Baron, 1697-1762Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.9
Word count
910K words
Chapters
92

Tags

English Originals Travel Global VoyageAdventure JourneyMilitary CommandersMaritime ExplorationDocumentary NarrativeWorld OrderEighteenth CenturyExotic Culture

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 Voyage Round the World in the Years MDCCXL, I, II, III, IV by AnsonAuthor: Anson, George Anson, Baron, 1697-1762,Language: English, Class: G: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation, Release Date: Oct 16, 2014

Editor's review

This book is the English edition of Lord George Anson's record of his 1740–1744 circumnavigation, a free public-domain e-book from Project Gutenberg. It is not a modern, polished work of exploration literature but a documentary text compiled from voyage materials, preserving the organization, nautical details, and observations of an eighteenth-century British naval expedition. Its value for readers lies in its sense of first-hand historical material: accounts of route choices, supply difficulties, crew life, and contacts with local peoples reveal the concrete workings of early imperial expansion. The style is old-fashioned English and the pace is slow, making it suitable for leisurely reading with a map at hand. As a public-domain e-book, it is easy to search and cite, making it suitable as source material for readers studying maritime history, colonial history, and eighteenth-century English texts, and for general readers interested in Pacific exploration who wish to read selected key chapters.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read the table of contents and an overview of the route first, then mark the main ports of call on a world map to build a sense of space.
  2. Do not struggle over archaic spellings and long sentences word by word; grasp time, place, and event to keep moving.
  3. Read closely the chapters on Pacific islands and supply crises, and skim the rest for the overall thread.
  4. After reading, compile a route timeline to help connect scattered observations into a complete voyage.

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
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  17. 17
  18. 18
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  27. 27
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  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
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  33. 33
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  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
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  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
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  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92

FAQ

Was this book written by Anson himself? Sources indicate that the book is attributed to Lord George Anson and is the English text of his circumnavigation record. The Project Gutenberg edition is a public-domain e-book; details about its compiler can be found on the book's page. It may be read as a documentary work formed around Anson's voyage rather than a modern author's personal memoir.
Why is the English in this book so difficult to read? The book was written in the eighteenth century, and its spelling, syntax, and nautical terminology bear the marks of that era, differing considerably from contemporary English. It is advisable not to look up every word; grasp the general meaning of paragraphs first, keep a separate list of frequently occurring nautical terms, and your speed will improve noticeably after a few chapters.
Can I read it without nautical knowledge? You can, but you will need a map and basic background. Much of the book concerns routes, winds, supplies, and ports, and readers without nautical knowledge can easily get lost. It is advisable to first learn the basic conditions of eighteenth-century sailing voyages, then read with a map; comprehension will be much smoother.
Is this e-book suitable for citation in research? As a Project Gutenberg public-domain e-book, it is easy to search and cite, making it suitable for reading as historical source material and for course reference. When citing, however, pay attention to edition information and page locations, and compare with other sources to avoid treating a single record as complete historical fact.

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About the author

Anson, George Anson, Baron, 1697-1762 Author · British · 1697–1762

George Anson, Baron Anson (1697–1762), was a British admiral. In the 1740s he led a fleet on a voyage around the world, enduring many hardships; the record of the voyage was later compiled into A Voyage Round the World in the Years MDCCXL, I, II, III, IV. The work is both an important nautical account and a reflection of eighteenth-century British maritime exploration and naval activity. Anson was not known primarily as a literary figure, and his writings mainly served to document voyages and disseminate knowledge, in a practical style that emphasizes factual narration. Public information is limited, and only one of his works is held in this collection; details of his life and the full scope of his writing remain insufficiently covered, so readers may approach him in the context of maritime and British naval history.