Lost Leaders

Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 239K words
Chapters: 24

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.Lost Leaders by Andrew LangAuthor: Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Aug 14, 2005

Editor's review

Lost Leaders is by Andrew Lang (1844–1912), classified under English literature, and released free in English by Project Gutenberg. Lang was a prolific man of letters from the late Victorian into the Edwardian era, writing across poetry, criticism, folklore, and the essay; this book belongs among his prose essays, and the title "Lost Leaders" signals pieces that comment on figures, phenomena, or ideas. The value of such writing lies in seeing how a learned author discusses the cultural questions of his day in an unhurried tone, with erudition and wit, suited to being read as essays rather than followed as a continuous narrative. For readers studying late nineteenth-century British periodical writing and literary tastes, it offers usable primary text; for the general reader, it is practice in entering the feel of old-fashioned English prose. Note that public-domain electronic editions usually lack modern annotation, so the names, events, and allusions must be looked up by the reader; read slowly and do not try to finish it in one sitting.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy late Victorian English essays and criticism
Literature lovers interested in Andrew Lang's writing across many fields
Advanced learners who need English essay material for close reading and stylistic training
Readers studying late nineteenth-century British literary writing and periodical culture

Not a good fit for

Readers hoping for a complete story or a continuous novel
Beginners without background knowledge who are unwilling to look up allusions
Readers expecting modern editorial notes and an introduction

Reading tips

Read piece by piece, one or two at a time, to avoid fatigue from continuous reading.
Mark unfamiliar names and events first, then look them up together after finishing a piece.
Choose pieces of interest for close paragraph reading and notice the author's syntax and tone.
Read alongside other Victorian essayists to feel the differences in style.

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 collection of essays?

The information places it in English literature, as prose essays by Andrew Lang rather than a continuous narrative novel. Treat each piece on its own and do not expect a unified plot.

Will I fail to understand it without notes?

Public-domain electronic editions usually carry no modern annotation, so the names, events, and allusions must be looked up by the reader. Readers with some knowledge of British history and culture will fare better; others can skip difficulties at first and grasp the general sense.

Is it suitable for learning English?

It suits readers who already have a good English foundation and want to train their feel for essay prose. Lang's sentences are old-fashioned and allusive, so it is not recommended for beginners; advanced learners can close-read short pieces to build written expression.

Comments

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About the author

Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912 Author

Andrew Lang (1844–1912) was a British writer, poet and folklorist best known for compiling collections of fairy tales and myths. The library holds 77 of his works, including The Blue Fairy Book, The Red Fairy Book, The Yellow Fairy Book, The Violet Fairy Book and The Brown Fairy Book, as well as Tales of Troy and Greece and The Homeric Hymns. He gathered, edited and retold folk tales from Europe and around the world, naming the volumes by colour; his clear, fluent prose served both children and folklore scholarship. These collections preserved a wealth of oral material and shaped the modern English-speaking world's image of fairy tales, leaving a lasting influence on fairy-tale publishing and comparative story research. Public information on his life is limited, so this note focuses on his editorial and literary contributions.