Rambles of an Archaeologist Among Old Books and in Old Places

Fairholt, F. W. (Frederick William), 1814-1866Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.1

Word count: 300K words
Chapters: 30

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.Rambles of an Archaeologist Among Old Books and in Old Places by F. W. FairholtAuthor: Fairholt, F. W. (Frederick William), 1814-1866,Language: English, Class: N: Fine Arts, Release Date: Aug 28, 2008

Editor's review

Fairholt was a nineteenth-century British antiquary and illustrator. This book records, in essayistic style, his rambles among old books and old places, weaving together bibliographical scholarship, architectural details, customs and objects, and the art of illustration. Its value lies not in systematic theory but in presenting the outlook of an old-fashioned antiquarian: starting from a binding, a carving, or an inscription, he inquires into the tastes and details of daily life of the age behind it. The prose has the ease and digressiveness of Victorian essays, making the book suitable as an introduction to the Western antiquarian tradition and for dipping into a chapter or two on a quiet afternoon. Readers who look up the places and objects mentioned will enjoy something like traveling alongside the author. Note that the discussions rest on nineteenth-century scholarship and some judgments no longer hold; read it as historical material and as a text, not as authoritative archaeological conclusions.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in Western antiquarianism, book history, and essays on antiquities
Readers who enjoy slow narrative and are willing to ramble with the author through old books and old places
Students and enthusiasts of nineteenth-century British essays and illustration art
Professionals seeking background reading for museums or rare-book exhibitions

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting systematic archaeological theory or the latest research findings
Readers who prefer fast-paced plots and tightly argued structures
Beginners who need a Chinese translation and are not used to the English original

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents and pick chapters on old books and architecture, then go back and read the whole book.
Prepare maps or images and look up the places and objects mentioned as you read.
After each chapter, write two or three notes recording the author's observational method and how it differs from today.
Read alongside similar antiquarian essays to appreciate the style of nineteenth-century learned writing.

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 a systematic work of archaeology?

No. It is essayistic antiquarian writing: the author draws topics from old books, old places, objects, and illustrations, focusing on personal observation and the tastes of the age rather than building a systematic archaeological framework. Readers should not use it as a textbook or methodological work.

How difficult is the English original?

The prose belongs to the nineteenth-century essay style, with long sentences and antiquarian and bibliographical terminology, posing a certain barrier for non-native readers. It is advisable to read with a dictionary and notes, or to close-read chapters of interest rather than insisting on finishing the whole book at once.

Can the views in the book still be cited directly today?

Many judgments rest on nineteenth-century scholarly conditions, and some conclusions have been revised by later research. For academic writing, treat it as historical material reflecting antiquarian views of the time, and verify key points against modern research before citing them.

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

Fairholt, F. W. (Frederick William), 1814-1866 Author · British · 1814–1866

Frederick William Fairholt (1814–1866) was an English engraver and antiquary. Public information about his life is limited, and his reputation rests chiefly on his studies of costume history, drama and folklore. One work by him is held in this collection, Rambles of an Archaeologist Among Old Books and in Old Places. In subject matter he typically examined old books and historic sites through an antiquary's eye, combining an engraver's sensitivity to images with a scholar's concern for evidence; his writing leans toward objects and places and has the plain, exploratory quality of a rambling essay. Such work allowed costume, drama and folklore to be presented through specific books and locations, and remains of reference value to later research in these fields.