The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. II., No. 3, July, 1890

VariousProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.4

Word count: 160K words
Chapters: 16

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 National Geographic Magazine, Vol. II., No. 3, July, 1890 by VariousAuthor: Various,Language: English, Class: G: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation, Release Date: Oct 23, 2016

Editor's review

This is the public-domain electronic text of the July 1890 issue of The National Geographic Magazine (Vol. II, No. 3), an early periodical document in the categories of geography, anthropology, and recreation. Its interest lies in showing the content orientation and writing style of the magazine's early phase, which differs from the later image-driven photojournalism for which it became known; readers can thus observe the intellectual framework and modes of expression of a geographical periodical in the late nineteenth century. For readers studying the history of geographical communication, early scientific journals, or American intellectual culture, this is usable primary material. The text is released by Project Gutenberg, making it easy to search and excerpt, but it lacks a modern introduction and annotations, so readers must supply their own background knowledge. It suits thematic selective reading and passage analysis, not continuous reading as a systematic geography text.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying the history of early geographical journals and scientific communication
Scholars and students interested in late-nineteenth-century American intellectual culture
Researchers needing public-domain periodical text for analysis and citation
Readers interested in the original appearance of old periodicals and early geographical writing

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking modern geographical knowledge or travel guides
Readers expecting abundant photographs and visual presentation
Casual readers who prefer light, continuous narrative and lack background knowledge

Reading tips

First review the issue's article topics and choose individual pieces by interest; continuous reading in order is unnecessary.
While reading, consider the late-nineteenth-century context of geography and anthropology, and note the conceptual limitations of the period.
Use the text as historical material for excerpts, noting page or article locations for later citation.
Compare with later issues of the same magazine to observe changes in editorial style and thematic focus.

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

Does this issue contain the many photographs familiar from later National Geographic?

This is an early 1890 issue, a public-domain textual document, and the materials do not indicate that it contains the photographic reportage familiar to modern readers. Those expecting a primarily visual reading experience may be disappointed; it is better used as textual historical material.

Can non-specialist readers find pleasure in reading it?

Yes, but expectations need adjustment. It is more like browsing an old periodical; the pleasure lies in its period flavor and original writing style rather than in obtaining accurate, reliable modern geographical knowledge. General readers interested in history and old periodicals can try selected articles.

What should be noted when citing this e-book?

Cite the multiple authors, the magazine title and issue number, the publication year, and the Project Gutenberg electronic source. Because this is a transcribed text, check the original wording before citing to avoid mistaking transcription differences for the original content.

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

Various Author

Various is not a real person but a collective attribution used in book cataloging and databases for works with multiple authors, commonly applied to anthologies, compilations, or publications with too many contributors to list individually. On this Chinese book site, this attribution covers as many as 3,387 titles, spanning encyclopedic entries, historical documents, and trial records. Representative works include several volumes of the 11th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and the record of the trial of the major war criminals before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. Available public information is limited: nationality, birth and death dates, and common categories are not clearly recorded, making it difficult to summarize a unified writing style or personal biography. Readers should understand it as a cataloging convention rather than a single author.