Hurst & Blackett's Standard Library

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

1.5

Word count: 59K words
Chapters: 6

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.Hurst & Blackett's Standard Library (1895) by Hurst & BlackettAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: Z: Bibliography, Library science, Release Date: Jul 3, 2018

Editor's review

This book is a catalog-like document: the 1895 Standard Library of the publisher Hurst & Blackett, digitized and released by Project Gutenberg and classified under bibliography and library science. Its value lies in offering a slice of the late-nineteenth-century British publishing market: which works the library included, how they were classified and arranged, and how they were presented to readers all serve as primary material for studying publishing history, reading history, and bibliography. For general readers it is more a historical list than a continuous read, suited to browsing and reference rather than narrative entertainment. When reading, attend to the logic of the catalog's arrangement, the tendencies in title selection, and the tastes of the era, treating it as a window onto late-Victorian knowledge dissemination. Because it is a catalog text, information density is high but interpretation is absent; pair it with background material on publishing or book history for best results.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Professional readers studying publishing history, book history, and reading history
Students and practitioners in library science and bibliography
People interested in late-Victorian British publishing culture
Researchers who need to check the titles selected for late-nineteenth-century libraries

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking continuous narrative or a literary reading experience
General readers hoping for modern book reviews and reading recommendations
Readers with little patience for catalogs and bibliographic texts

Reading tips

Read the preface and notes on arrangement first to understand the library's classification logic and how it presents titles.
Jump around by subject or author index; use it as a reference tool rather than reading it straight through.
Note entries of interest, then look up the related works and publishing background separately.
Read it alongside material on nineteenth-century British publishing history to understand the market tastes behind the selections.

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 or a catalog?

It is a bibliographic document: the catalog of Hurst & Blackett's 1895 Standard Library, classified under bibliography and library science. It is not a novel or a continuous narrative; its content consists mainly of entries, classifications, and promotional information, suited to reference and browsing rather than being read cover to cover as a story.

What use is it to general readers?

General readers can treat it as a window onto late-nineteenth-century British publishing tastes: see which works the library included, how they were classified, and how they were presented to readers. If you are interested in book history or old books, it offers specific leads on selected titles and can serve as a checklist for tracking down old works.

Is the content complete and reliable?

Project Gutenberg digitized and released it from public-domain material, so it is an electronic presentation of a historical document reflecting the 1895 catalog as it was. As a historical source it preserves the arrangement and wording of the time, but it is not the same as a modern scholarly edition; note the version information and compare it with related publishing-history research.

How should one read this kind of bibliographic document?

Reading it straight through is not recommended. Start with the notes on arrangement and the classification structure, then browse by subject or author; record entries of interest and look up the original works or background material separately. For research, you can analyze the tendencies in title selection, the classification scheme, and the promotional language, using it as material for studying the publishing market.

Comments

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