That Very Mab

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

2.7

Word count: 174K words
Chapters: 18

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. 'That Very Mab' by May Kendall and Andrew Lang. Author: Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: May 5, 2007

Editor's review

Co-written by May Kendall and Andrew Lang, this work unfolds around the folkloric figure of Mab in a light, witty register that blends late-Victorian humour with literary playfulness. Lang, a prolific author and folklorist, often reworked and gently mocked traditional material, and the book continues that intellectual game. It is short, and the English text is freely available in the public domain, making it a small entry point into late nineteenth-century British popular genres and fairy themes. Readers might note the irony and puns in the dialogue, and how the authors handle the gap between folklore and contemporary life. For scholars it is a side branch of Lang's oeuvre; for general readers, an easy, leisurely trifle.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Victorian English literature and folklore adaptation
Advanced learners who want to practise reading short English originals
Casual readers who enjoy humorous, ironic, fairy-themed light literature

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a long, fully plotted novel with complex character arcs
Beginners with weak English who need modern annotation
Readers of pure realism with no interest in folklore adaptation

Reading tips

Read the preface and dedication first for the co-authorship context, then the text.
Mark puns or allusions and revisit them after finishing the chapter.
Compare with other works by Andrew Lang to see his folkloric interests continue.
Read a short section a day and keep it light; no need to finish in one sitting.

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 novel or a short work?

Judging by the length and format of the public-domain electronic edition, it is closer to a short narrative sketch or novella than a complexly structured novel. It suits reading in sections; do not demand the continuity of a long novel.

Can I understand it without a folklore background?

Yes. Though it playfuly mocks fairy legend and contemporary social life, the interest comes mainly from dialogue and situation. Grasp the basic plot and skip unfamiliar allusions; overall understanding is not affected.

Why read the English original?

The work is in the public domain, the English text is free, and its language carries late nineteenth-century humour and rhetoric. The original lets you feel the irony and puns directly, which translations often cannot fully preserve.

Comments

Find this book

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

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.