Italian Letters, Vols. I and II; or, The History of the Count de St. Julian

William GodwinProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.4

Word count: 206K words
Chapters: 21

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.Italian Letters, Vols. I and II; Or, The History of the Count de St. JulianAuthor: Godwin, William, 1756-1836,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 1, 2005

Editor's review

This is a novel by Godwin in epistolary form, centering on the experiences of Count de St. Julian and bearing the double mark of late eighteenth-century British sentimental fiction and Gothic taste. The epistolary form lets the narrative be pieced together from multiple characters' perspectives; it allows delicate emotional development and is well suited to showing characters' inner hesitation and moral conflict. Godwin is known for his works of political philosophy, and this book shows another side of him, turning his thinking about human nature, education, and feeling into fictional narrative. As a public-domain ebook, its value lies in offering a sample for observing the shape of the late eighteenth-century British novel; it suits readers studying literary history or interested in epistolary narrative. A caution: epistolary novels move slowly, with plot advancing through the exchange of letters, so readers used to strong plotting may find it leisurely; as you read, pay attention to how the letter form itself shapes suspense and character relationships.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students of English literature who need to understand the shape of the late eighteenth-century epistolary novel
Readers interested in Godwin's thought who want to see how he handles emotion and morality in fiction
Readers who enjoy epistolary narrative and are willing to accept a slower plot pace
Literary historians studying the overlap of sentimental fiction and Gothic taste

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking fast-paced, strongly plotted fiction: the epistolary pace is slow and patience may run out
Readers who want only Godwin's works of political philosophy: this book centers on fictional narrative
Beginners with little experience reading original texts in foreign languages who need extensive annotation

Reading tips

First sort out the relationships among the letter writers; keep a list of correspondents as you read
Note the differences in perspective from letter to letter, and compare how different characters describe the same event
Read it alongside other epistolary novels of the period to observe the link between form and emotional expression
Do not feel obliged to finish in one go; reading in sections by volume of letters makes it easier to stay attentive

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

Can I read this directly without having read other works by Godwin?

Yes. This is a standalone epistolary novel and does not depend on prior events from other works. Still, knowing that Godwin was concerned in his political philosophy with questions of human nature and education makes it easier to see the intellectual concerns behind the novel's emotional descriptions. Reading the main text first and turning to his treatises afterward is also a workable order.

What makes epistolary novels difficult to read?

The main difficulty is that the narrative is assembled from many letters, with perspectives shifting frequently and the timeline jumping with the circumstances of writing. Readers must actively integrate information to reconstruct the full sequence of events. It helps to note as you read who is writing to whom, when, and what new information is revealed; this keeps you on track with the plot and lets you appreciate how the author uses letters to create suspense.

Is this book more a sentimental novel or a Gothic novel?

It has tendencies toward both: on one hand it develops characters' emotions and moral dilemmas in delicate detail, close to sentimental fiction; on the other it builds tense situations and a dark atmosphere. Rather than forcing it into one category, it is better to see it as a sample of the overlapping tastes of the late eighteenth-century novel, and to notice how the two styles coexist in the same text.

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About the author

William Godwin Author · British · 1756–1836

William Godwin (1756–1836) was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. Raised in the Calvinist tradition, he later turned to radical thought. In 1793 he published An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice, regarded as a precursor of modern anarchism; in 1794 he published the novel Caleb Williams. He later married the feminist pioneer Mary Wollstonecraft, and their daughter was Mary Shelley. The library holds nine of his works, including the above treatise and novel as well as St. Leon, Thoughts on Man, Four Early Pamphlets, Lives of the Necromancers, Italian Letters, Imogen: A Pastoral Romance, and his memoirs of Wollstonecraft. His writing spans political philosophy, fiction, memoir and romance, marked by a rational and speculative style that influenced later radical thought and the English novel.