Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 13

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.5
Word count
890K words
Chapters
89

Tags

English Originals Literary GiantsHumanistic CareIntellectual EnlightenmentSlow ReadingBeautiful EssaysEclectic ReadingCross-Cultural View

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.Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 13 by Mabie et al.Author: ,Language: English, Class: PN: Language and Literatures: Literature: General, Criticism, Collections, Release Date: Nov 23, 2010

Editor's review

This is Volume 13 of Library of the World's Best Literature, a volume in a large literary anthology. Compiled by Mabie and others, the library gathers representative pieces from literatures ancient and modern and in various languages, combining selections with editorial commentary in a format that clearly reflects the literary taste and editorial assumptions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Volume 13 is not a standalone complete work but one part of the whole library; its value lies in presenting the “map of world literature” as seen by editors of that era—which authors were included and how they were evaluated is itself material for the history of literary reception. For general readers it is better suited to browsing than to reading straight through; for researchers it offers a way to examine the early forms of anthology compilation, canon formation, and cross-linguistic transmission. Readers are advised to skim the table of contents and jump to pieces of interest, and to note the criteria and period limitations in the editors' commentary.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. First browse the table of contents and jump to pieces by author or language of interest; there is no need to read in order.
  2. While reading selections, read the editors' commentary alongside and note its evaluative criteria and period biases.
  3. Focus on one author or one language at a time, and briefly record impressions and questions afterward.
  4. Compare with contemporary anthologies to observe what changes and what remains in the canon.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
  86. 86
  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89

FAQ

Can this volume be read on its own, or should other volumes be read first? It can be read on its own. Each volume arranges selections according to the same format and is relatively independent, not relying on plots from preceding or later volumes. To understand the compilation logic and full range of selections, however, one should compare tables of contents and editors' notes in other volumes.
Are the selections in English original or in translation? The library was published in English; non-English works are mostly included in English translation, while English works appear in the original. For specific pieces, see the notes preceding each selection. Readers should note that translations carry the linguistic habits of translators of that time and may differ in style from modern translations.
Why is it better suited to browsing than to reading straight through? As a volume of a large library, it contains selections by different authors, in different languages, and in different genres, with no continuous plot or unified thematic thread between pieces. Reading page by page is tiring; browsing by interest and table of contents better realizes the anthology's value for reference and browsing.

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

Project Gutenberg Author

Project Gutenberg is not a single author but a nonprofit digital library founded by Michael Hart in 1971 and one of the world's earliest free ebook platforms. It relies on volunteers to digitize, proofread, and freely distribute public-domain works and is now operated by the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Its collection contains 2,692 works, mainly religious texts, epics, and story collections, including the King James Bible and the Douay-Rheims volumes, the epic Mahabharata, a literal translation of the Arabian Nights, and Danish editions of the Old and New Testaments. Public information is limited, and its nature is closer to a public-interest compiling and dissemination body; these texts are open to the public, easy to consult and circulate, and have had a profound influence on the spread of ebooks and the preservation of public-domain resources.