Down South

Hardy, Duffus, Lady, 1825？-1891Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.6

Word count: 369K words
Chapters: 37

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.Down South by Lady Duffus HardyAuthor: Hardy, Duffus, Lady, 1825?-1891,Language: English, Class: F206: United States local history: The South. South Atlantic States, Release Date: Dec 18, 2016

Editor's review

This book is a travel narrative by the nineteenth-century British writer Mrs. Duffus Hardy, recording her observations in the American South; it is a public-domain Project Gutenberg ebook. The text presents Southern local society, scenery, and everyday life through a personal journey account, offering reference value for understanding nineteenth-century Anglo-American travel literature, Southern local history, and the perspective of British observers of the period. The language carries a Victorian flavor, and the narration is unhurried, making it suitable as supplementary historical reading. Readers should note the author's identity and standpoint and the limits of her observations, understanding the descriptions within the context of nineteenth-century transatlantic travel and the social changes around the Civil War, rather than treating the book as a complete account of Southern history.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Southern local history and nineteenth-century social life
Students of travel literature or the history of Anglo-American cultural exchange
Readers who enjoy old-style travel writing and can read the English original

Not a good fit for

Beginners seeking a systematic textbook on Southern history
Readers who prefer fast-paced narratives or contemporary nonfiction styles

Reading tips

Learn about the author's life and the period of writing before starting the text, to better grasp her standpoint.
Read in sections according to the itinerary chapters, noting how she describes local customs and people.
Read alongside other Southern travel accounts or historical works of the same period for comparison.

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

What aspects of the American South does this book cover?

It mainly covers the author's observations during her travels in the South, including local scenery, social life, and everyday observations; it is a personal travel account, not a systematic history of the South.

What background knowledge is helpful before reading?

Some familiarity with nineteenth-century Southern society and Anglo-American travel literature is helpful; at minimum, know that the author is a British visitor whose observations reflect an outsider's perspective.

Comments

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About the author

Hardy, Duffus, Lady, 1825？-1891 Author · British

Lady Hardy (née Duffus, 1825?–1891) was a British novelist and travel writer active in the literary world in the late nineteenth century. Publicly available information about her birth and death dates and her personal life is limited, and what is known comes mainly from her works and bibliographic records. Her representative work is the travel book Down South, whose title suggests writing connected with southern regions or travels in the south, consistent with her dual role as novelist and travel writer. On the evidence currently available, her writing focuses on travel observation and narrative prose, with a documentary and observant style; it may be of interest to readers concerned with Victorian women's travel writing and regional description. Because few of her works and little scholarship survive, her place in literary history is not prominent, yet her work remains an example of late nineteenth-century British women writers entering the field of travel writing.