The Letter-Bag of Lady Elizabeth Spencer-Stanhope — Volume 1

Project GutenbergProject Gutenberg · United StatesMar 2023

Rating 3.0
Word count
601K words
Chapters
61

Tags

Motivation and Growth Historical SceneHistorical ReappraisalHumanistic CareSlow ReadingSocial Observation

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.The Letter-Bag of Lady Elizabeth Spencer-Stanhope — Volume 1 by A. M. W. StirlingAuthor: ,Language: English, Class: DA: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Great Britain, Ireland, Central Europe, Release Date: Jan 1, 2005

Editor's review

This book is the first volume of the letters of Lady Elizabeth Spencer-Stanhope, edited by A. M. W. Stirling and a Project Gutenberg public-domain eBook. The appeal of the epistolary form lies in its immediacy and intimacy: family correspondence records daily life, social visits, kinship ties, and local observations, offering readers textured details beyond formal history. The editor's arrangement gives scattered letters a readable sequence, but readers should still note the fragmentary nature of correspondence and not expect a continuous narrative. Its value lies mainly as material for social and family history, suitable as corroborative reading on the life of the English gentry from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century. For general readers, selective reading of persons and events of interest is more efficient than reading straight through.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the editor's introduction and the chronological outline of the letters first, then read selectively in chronological order.
  2. Use personal relationships as a thread to make simple genealogical notes, reducing confusion.
  3. Read the letters alongside works on British social history of the same period for mutual corroboration.
  4. There is no need to read straight through; skip by theme such as social life, family, and local observations.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

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Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  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

FAQ

Is this collection of letters suitable for reading from beginning to end? Not necessarily. Letters are inherently fragmentary; people and events recur but lack a continuous narrative. A more effective approach is to first clarify the chronology and relationships, then read by theme or passages of interest; reading straight through can easily lose the thread amid scattered information.
What background knowledge is needed to read it? Some familiarity with the social habits, kinship networks, and local affairs of the English gentry from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth century is helpful. Without it, read a brief overview of modern British social history first, then enter the details of the letters; understanding will be much smoother.
Does this edition have annotations and an index? This eBook is a Project Gutenberg public-domain text, offering mainly the letters and the editor's arrangement; annotations and indexing are limited. For research citations, check authoritative print or scholarly critical editions as well, so as not to miss necessary textual notes.

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

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