Memoirs

Leland, Charles Godfrey, 1824-1903Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 898K words
Chapters: 90

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.Memoirs by Charles Godfrey LelandAuthor: Leland, Charles Godfrey, 1824-1903,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jul 9, 2007

Editor's review

This is the memoir of Charles Godfrey Leland, a public-domain work in American and Canadian literature. Leland was a nineteenth-century American writer and folklorist, and the value of his memoir lies not in grand narrative but in recording, from a firsthand perspective, his personal growth, travels, and the formation of his scholarly interests, offering readers primary material for understanding the lives of nineteenth-century European and American intellectuals and the early development of folklore studies. The narration has an essayistic ease and is suited to slow reading by those interested in biography, memoirs, and the history of folklore studies. As a free e-book from Project Gutenberg, it is convenient for searching and excerpting, and is also suitable as supplementary material for studying Leland and his work. When reading, it is advisable to first learn about the author's life and background, then read through in chronological order; readers interested in folklore topics may focus on passages related to legends and Gypsy culture. Note that this is the original English edition, and the memoir's format is loose, so readers seeking strong plot may find the pace slow.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Biography readers interested in the lives of nineteenth-century European and American intellectuals
Readers studying the history of folklore studies and Leland's scholarly background
Readers who enjoy essayistic memoirs and slow-paced narration
Researchers who need public-domain English historical sources for searching and excerpting

Not a good fit for

Ordinary fiction readers who prefer strong plot and fast-paced narrative
Readers not comfortable with the English original who need a Chinese translation
Beginners seeking a systematic textbook of folklore theory

Reading tips

First look up a brief biography of Leland and establish a timeline before reading the whole book.
Read in chapter order, noting people and events as you go for easier review.
Readers interested in folklore content can skim the relevant chapters, then go back to fill in the context.
When using it as a historical source, excerpt by theme and note the chapter source.

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

What is this memoir mainly about?

The book is Leland's personal memoir written from a firsthand perspective, covering his upbringing, travels, and the formation of his scholarly interests, with an essayistic narrative style. It is better read as primary material for understanding nineteenth-century European and American intellectual life and the early development of folklore studies.

Can I read this memoir directly without knowing about Leland?

You can read it directly, but the memoir involves many people and period background, and it can feel loose without background knowledge. It is advisable to spend a little time learning about Leland's life and major works before entering the main text, and to note relationships among people as you read, which will make understanding smoother.

Is this book suitable as research material for folklore studies?

It can be used as supplementary historical material. Leland himself long focused on legends and folklore topics, and the memoir preserves firsthand accounts of how his scholarly interests formed. But it is not a systematic theoretical work, and when used for research it should be cross-checked against his specialized works and secondary research literature.

Comments

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About the author

Leland, Charles Godfrey, 1824-1903 Author

Charles Godfrey Leland (1824–1903) was an American writer and folklorist whose life and education are poorly documented in publicly available sources. The library holds 11 of his works, spanning folklore, Gypsy culture, and poetry. His Algonquin Legends of New England records Native American narratives, while Legends of Florence collects stories from local oral tradition. Books such as Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling systematically document Roma magical and divinatory customs, and The English Gipsies and Their Language combines linguistic and ethnographic value. He also published poetry collections, including The Breitmann Ballads, and a Memoirs. His writing is known for gathering and retelling folk material in accessible language, exerting some influence on later folklore and Gypsy studies.