Constantinople, v. 2

De Amicis, Edmondo, 1846-1908Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.9

Word count: 427K words
Chapters: 43

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.Constantinople, v. 2 (of 2) by Edmondo De AmicisAuthor: De Amicis, Edmondo, 1846-1908,Language: English, Class: DR: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Balkan Peninsula, Turkey, Release Date: Jun 6, 2016

Editor's review

This is the second volume of Edmondo De Amicis's travelogue on Constantinople, released as an English eBook by Project Gutenberg. A representative text of nineteenth-century travel literature, it is less a guidebook or chronicle than a finely observed, literary record of the city's appearance, streetscape, and people, valuable both as historical material and as readable prose. The second volume continues the narrative of the first; readers can feel an outsider's view of the Ottoman capital and its multicultural texture. It suits those studying travel literature, urban history, and cross-cultural writing, as well as general readers interested in Istanbul's history. Note that this is a public-domain English eBook, not a modern scholarly annotated edition; readers should consult relevant historical background materials.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy nineteenth-century travel literature and travel essays
Readers interested in Istanbul's urban history and Ottoman culture
Students and researchers of cross-cultural travel writing
Nonfiction readers who wish to encounter public-domain classics in the original English

Not a good fit for

Rigorous historians who need systematic chronicles or scholarly annotation
General readers who read only Chinese translations and are unaccustomed to English originals
Travelers seeking modern guidebooks and practical information

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and chapter titles, then read passages on the city's sights or its people according to interest.
Keep a map or an overview of Istanbul's history at hand while reading to locate the scenes described.
Read alongside other travel literature on the same subject to appreciate differences in perspective.
Note unfamiliar place names and older forms as you go and look them up in batches, so as not to interrupt the reading rhythm.

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 the complete travelogue of Constantinople?

No. It is the second of two volumes and should be read with the first for a fuller narrative. Read alone, the second volume still offers vivid descriptions of the city and its people, but some prior context and connections may need to be filled in by the reader.

Is this book suitable as research material on Turkish history?

It is a literary travelogue, keenly observant but not a systematic historical work, and it lacks modern scholarly annotation and source criticism. It can serve as supplementary material for studying Western perceptions of Ottoman cities in the nineteenth century, but should not be relied on alone as a basis for historical fact.

What language proficiency does reading this book require?

This is a public-domain English eBook and requires some English reading ability. The text is in a nineteenth-century prose style, with long sentences and many old place names; an intermediate or higher level of English is recommended, or reading with a dictionary or against a translation.

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About the author

De Amicis, Edmondo, 1846-1908 Author

Edmondo De Amicis (1846-1908) was an Italian writer best known to Chinese readers for his children's book Cuore (often translated as The Heart), subtitled "An Italian Schoolboy's Journal." The library holds 19 of his works, including, besides Cuore, the travel books Morocco, Its People and Places, Spain, v. 1, Constantinople, v. 1, Constantinople, v. 2 and Holland, v. 1, as well as the military sketches La vita militare: bozzetti and the Finnish translation Sydän: Kirja nuorisolle. These works draw on school, family, army life and foreign travel, written in a warm, realistic style that stresses feeling and moral education; Cuore is the most widely read and has had a lasting influence among inspirational coming-of-age books. Public information on his life dates and nationality is limited, so such details are omitted here.