The Merry Andrew; or, The Humours of a Fair

AnonymousProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.7
Word count
16K words
Chapters
2

Tags

English Originals Dramatic Literature Stage PerformanceCarnivalHumor ReliefSatirical StylePopular NarrativeFolk CustomsFairground Culture

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 Merry Andrew; or, The Humours of a Fair. by Anonymous. Author: Anonymous. Language: English. Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres. Release Date: Aug 14, 2015.

Editor's review

This is a short English book credited to "Anonymous"; from its title and classification, it belongs to juvenile belles lettres on the theme of fairs, amusements, and comic performance. Centered on the traditional comic figure of Merry Andrew, it presents the bustle, banter, and cross-section of humanity at a fair, colored by folk comedy and festival literature. Its value lies not in complex plotting but in preserving the popular entertainment scene and humorous expression of a particular period, which helps in understanding English popular reading, folk performance traditions, and comic elements in children's literature. As a Project Gutenberg eBook, it is likely short and suits reading as a small sample of cultural history and language study. Note the puns, slang, and exaggeration, and savor the lively atmosphere of old fair culture. Note that the text is in English and its humor carries a period distance.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. First learn about the traditional comic figure of Merry Andrew, then enter the text.
  2. Treat the work as a small cultural sample, noting fair scenes and humorous devices as you read.
  3. Read passages aloud to feel the rhythm and punning wit of old-fashioned English comedy.
  4. If short, read it in two or three sittings, briefly retelling the content after each.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2

FAQ

What does "Merry Andrew" refer to? "Merry Andrew" is a traditional English comic character or clown figure, often associated with fairs, street performance, and comic entertainment. The book's title uses this figure to develop its depiction of fair humor; understanding this background helps grasp the text's wit.
Is this book suitable for children? The materials classify it as juvenile belles lettres, indicating a connection to children's literature, but the text is in English and its humor carries a period distance, so modern children may find it difficult to read directly. It is better suited to readers with some English foundation, or to shared reading guided by an adult.
Why is the author credited as Anonymous? The materials show the author as Anonymous, meaning unknown. This is not uncommon in early popular reading and folk-themed works. Anonymity means readers should focus on the text's content and period background rather than the author's life.

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

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is a collective designation used in English-language publishing for works whose authorship is unknown or unsigned, rather than the real name of a single author. The 716 titles attributed to this name include the Gospel of John, Psalms, Romans, Luke, Philippians, and 1 Corinthians from the World English Bible, as well as the Gospel of John and Psalms from the King James Version. Such texts are mainly religious classics and ancient folk traditions that were copied, translated, and compiled over long periods, making their original authors difficult to trace; they therefore circulated anonymously. Public information is limited, and neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be confirmed. The significance of anonymity lies in focusing attention on the works themselves rather than on authorial identity, and in reminding readers of the collective and variable nature of texts in transmission.