Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 6

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.0
Word count
914K words
Chapters
92

Tags

English Originals World Classics Literary GiantsHumanistic CareIntellectual EnlightenmentAcademic StudyMagazine SelectionTraditional AestheticsEclectic 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 — Volume 6 by Mabie et al.Author: ,Language: English, Class: PN: Language and Literatures: Literature: General, Criticism, Collections, Release Date: Oct 5, 2004

Editor's review

This book is Volume 6 of the large literary anthology Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern, a public-domain classic compilation e-book organized and released by Project Gutenberg. Its value lies not in any single exclusive masterpiece but in its early encyclopedic editorial vision, gathering ancient and modern literary classics, criticism, and introductions into one collection, presenting the overall imagination and selection tastes of the English-speaking world regarding "world literature" from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. In reading, one can understand the appearance of classic texts by country and era, and also observe how the editors defined "best" and how they wrote author biographies and work commentaries, which is of reference value for studying the history of literary anthologies, comparative literature, and reading history. Because the book was compiled early, some views and selections carry the limitations of their time, and readers should read with a discerning eye. It is suitable as reference material, for selected reading, and as auxiliary material for literary history, rather than as a popular work for reading straight through.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. First read the table of contents and editor's preface to understand the range of countries and eras included in this volume, then read selectively according to interest.
  2. Read alongside literary history reference books, noting differences between the selections and commonly recognized classics.
  3. Read author biographies together with the selected texts, paying attention to the editors' evaluative language and selection criteria.
  4. Read only a few pieces at a time and take brief notes, avoiding reading a reference anthology as if it were a novel.

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
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  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
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  18. 18
  19. 19
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  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
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  83. 83
  84. 84
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  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92

FAQ

Is this book a complete long work? No. It is one volume of a large literary anthology, containing excerpts, biographies, and commentaries on works by many authors. It is a compilation of materials, not a single complete long work. Readers should read selectively by entry rather than expecting a continuous plot.
What language foundation is needed to read this book? The original book is in English, and the selections and commentaries are mostly written in English from the nineteenth to early twentieth century, with somewhat old-fashioned sentence structures and wording. Good English reading ability will make it smoother, and dictionaries and literary history materials can also help with comprehension.
Can the views in the book be taken directly as definitive conclusions? Not advisable. The book was compiled early, and its selections and evaluations carry the aesthetic tastes and limitations of their time. It can be treated as a sample for observing early conceptions of "world literature" and compared critically with modern research.

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.