Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and

Henry HallamProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.1

Word count: 2.3M words
Chapters: 231

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.Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, andAuthor: Hallam, Henry, 1777-1859,Language: English, Class: PN: Language and Literatures: Literature: General, Criticism, Collections, Release Date: Oct 2, 2013

Editor's review

This is the electronic edition of an introduction to the history of European literature by the British historian Henry Hallam, distributed free of charge by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain resource. Combining chronological and national approaches, Hallam traces the development of literature across European countries from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century, touching also on the scholarly, intellectual, and religious background. Broad in scope and solidly grounded in sources, it is an introductory general history for understanding the landscape of early modern European literature. Its value lies in offering an overall framework of European literature as seen by a nineteenth-century historian, which can be read against modern specialized studies to appreciate how scholarly perspectives have evolved. The electronic edition is easy to search and quote from, making it suitable as supplementary material for courses on foreign literary history or for readers interested in Renaissance-era culture who wish to read systematically. Note that the original was written in the nineteenth century and is in English; its views and selections bear the marks of their time, and readers should keep a critical eye.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students majoring in foreign literary history who need a general-history framework as supplementary course reading
Scholars studying Renaissance-era culture who wish to consult nineteenth-century scholarly views
General readers with good English reading ability and an interest in early modern European literature
University teachers who need free public-domain English materials for teaching or quotation

Not a good fit for

Readers who have difficulty reading English and would prefer a Chinese translation
Literary researchers expecting modern scholarly methods and cutting-edge findings
Beginners who only want to learn about a single author or work

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents and each chapter's introduction to grasp the book's periodization and national structure, then read in detail the countries that interest you.
Read alongside a modern history of European literature to compare the selections and emphases of a nineteenth-century historian with contemporary scholarship.
Keep a notebook of names and titles for later use in locating original works or specialized studies.
Use it as a reference work, consulting chapters by period or country as needed rather than reading straight through.

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 a complete work or an excerpt?

According to the Project Gutenberg record, this is the electronic text of Hallam's Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries; the exact volume and completeness should be confirmed against the actual downloaded file. After downloading, check the table of contents and final chapter to confirm the scope before planning your reading.

Can I read it without a background in literary history?

Yes, but it requires some patience. The book lays out a great many authors and works by country and period, and without a foundation it is easy to lose the thread. Reading a Chinese-language overview of European literary history first to establish a basic timeline will make the experience much better.

Can the electronic edition be used freely?

Public-domain ebooks released by Project Gutenberg are in the public domain in the United States and can be downloaded and read free of charge. Copyright rules differ by country and region, however; if you intend to use it for publication, teaching compilations, or commercial purposes, verify local law and the terms of use in the file yourself.

What is the biggest challenge in reading this book?

The challenge lies in the nineteenth-century English style, with long sentences, and in the many authors and works mentioned that are unfamiliar today. Slow down, mark unfamiliar figures as you go, and look them up after finishing a chapter rather than interrupting your reading flow frequently.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Henry Hallam Author · British · 1777–1859

Henry Hallam (1777–1859) was a British historian, born in Windsor. He was educated at Eton and Oxford and later served as a Commissioner of Stamps; politically he was a Whig. His major works include View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, The Constitutional History of England, and Introduction to the Literature of Europe, and the five works by him held in this library are mostly volumes of these titles. Hallam's scholarship ranged across political institutions, social conditions, and literary development. Drawing on wide reading and writing with fairness, rigor, and restraint, he traced the broad contours of European civilization over long periods. His constitutional and medieval histories were influential in nineteenth-century British historiography, and he is regarded as a figure bridging Enlightenment and professional historical writing; his works remain useful references for the study of European constitutional and literary history.