Augusta Triumphans

Daniel DefoeProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 74K words
Chapters: 8

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.Augusta Triumphans by Daniel DefoeAuthor: Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731,Language: English, Class: HN: Social sciences: Social history and conditions, Social problems, Release Date: May 17, 2010

Editor's review

Augusta Triumphans is one of Defoe's lesser-known pamphlets on social reform, presented here in the original English and addressing issues of urban governance, morality, and public order. Its value lies not in literary plot but in the window it offers onto the discourse of social reform in Britain from the late seventeenth to the early eighteenth century, and onto another side of Defoe as a political writer. The prose is strongly argumentative, blunt in its views, and often takes concrete social phenomena as its point of departure; it is suitable for readers interested in social history, intellectual history, or the background of English literature as further reading. Because it is a historical text, its language and allusions are distant from contemporary English, so reading with notes or an introduction is recommended. The electronic edition makes it easy to search keywords, allowing researchers to locate relevant arguments quickly, and it also suits reading groups discussing how literary authors engage with social issues.

Who it's for

A good fit for

University students and scholars studying British social or intellectual history
Readers of English literature interested in Defoe's non-fiction writing
Undergraduates who need original English materials for course papers
Members of reading groups interested in discussing urban governance and morality

Not a good fit for

General readers expecting novelistic plot and character development
Readers whose English is not yet sufficient for early modern English texts
Beginners seeking a systematic theoretical framework of social reform

Reading tips

Begin with a background introduction to early eighteenth-century British social reform before entering the text.
Mark passages on urban management, poverty, and morality as you read to help organize the themes.
Read alongside Defoe's fiction to observe the differences between his political and imaginative writing.
For course use, study the text section by section by topic, together with secondary scholarship.

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.

FAQ

Is this book a novel?

No. It is Defoe's argumentative text on social reform, written in English and belonging to the genre of political tracts or pamphlets. Its focus is on discussing social problems and proposals for governance rather than telling a fictional story, so reading expectations should be distinguished from those for a novel.

How difficult is the English, and is it suitable for non-native readers?

The text is in early modern English, and its sentence structures and vocabulary are distant from contemporary English, so non-native readers may find it challenging. A solid foundation in English reading is recommended, along with notes, an introduction, or background materials; if necessary, read relevant Chinese-language scholarship first.

Why is it recommended to read with background materials?

Because the specific social phenomena, institutions, and polemical targets mentioned in the text all have historical contexts, and without background knowledge it is easy to misread the author's intent. Understanding the urban governance and social reform debates in Britain at the time will help you grasp his main arguments and stance more accurately.

What kinds of use is the electronic edition suited to?

The electronic edition is convenient for full-text searching and excerpting, suitable for researchers locating arguments by keyword and for students reading in sections and taking notes. For reading groups, selected topic passages can be chosen in advance for focused discussion of how the author defines problems and proposes arguments.

Comments

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About the author

Daniel Defoe Author · British · 1660–1731

Daniel Defoe (1661?–1731) was an English novelist, political writer and journalist, and a founding figure of realist fiction in the English Enlightenment. His birth year is recorded variously; the library lists 1660, and he died in 1731. A prolific author, he is represented here by 59 works, the best known being Robinson Crusoe, alongside Moll Flanders and A Journal of the Plague Year. His novels often follow individual fortunes and adventures, written in a plain, concrete and realistic style that presents characters' circumstances and choices in unadorned narrative, and his influence on the development of English realist fiction is far-reaching. Commonly classified under inspirational growth, his works are still read today as important accounts of endurance and self-reliance.