The Olden Time Series: Vol. 2: The Days of the Spinning-Wheel in New England

Henry Mason BrooksProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.8

Word count: 132K words
Chapters: 14

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 Olden Time Series: Vol. 2: The Days of the Spinning-Wheel in New England. Author: Brooks, Henry M. (Henry Mason), 1822-1898. Language: English. Class: F001: United States local history: New England. Release Date: Aug 26, 2007

Editor's review

This volume, the second in The Olden Time Series compiled by Henry M. Brooks, focuses on the era when the spinning wheel prevailed in New England and belongs to the primary-source compilations of American local history and the history of everyday life. Its value lies not in a continuous narrative but in gathering scattered old newspaper texts, local records, and details of daily life, letting readers touch directly the texture of household handicraft in New England before industrialization. The descriptions of spinning wheels, household textile work, and the rhythms of rural labor carry a strong period flavor and local color, making the book useful supplementary material for understanding early American material culture and the history of women's labor. It is best used as a collection of historical sources rather than a general history—browsed at random and excerpted by theme, it is more effective than reading straight through. For readers studying local history, folklore, or the history of the household economy, this is plain but rewarding primary material; for general readers, it is a window onto old ways of life, best enjoyed alongside notes and background sources.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Those studying the local history and early economic life of New England
Folklore readers interested in household textiles and handicraft customs
History students who need primary sources to support their writing
General readers who enjoy old newspaper prose and details of olden-day life

Not a good fit for

Readers of popular history expecting a continuous narrative
Beginners unfamiliar with the English original who need full translation and annotation

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and the editor's notes, then skip between chapters by theme—spinning wheels, textiles, household labor.
Keep paper and pen handy to note source details, and read against background material on New England local history.
Keep the book at hand as a reference and search passages by keyword when writing or verifying facts.

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 book a complete general history or a source compilation?

It is a compilation of local history and olden-day life, assembled by the editor from old newspapers and local records; it is not a complete history unfolding along a timeline. Readers should sample it by theme and extract material rather than expect a continuous narrative framework.

Can readers with only basic English manage it?

The original is in English and carries the style of old newspaper writing and local idiom, so readers with basic English will find it slow going. It helps to use a dictionary and background sources first, or read it alongside a translation, treating it as a source collection to browse rather than close reading—the burden is much lighter that way.

Is it suitable for academic citation?

It can serve as supplementary source material for the study of local history, folklore, and household handicraft, but it is a secondhand compilation rather than original archival documents. When citing, verify the specific source and cross-check against other primary material; do not treat the editor's retelling as a direct original record.

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

Henry Mason Brooks Author · American · 1822–1898

Henry Mason Brooks (1822–1898) was an American writer and researcher of local history and antiquities who long lived in Salem, Massachusetts, and served as secretary of the Essex Institute in Salem. His six-volume Olden Time Series draws mainly on old Boston and Salem newspapers to collect materials on early New England social customs, punishments, and advertisements. The volumes discuss such subjects as old lotteries, curious advertisements, the New England Sunday, the days of the spinning-wheel, literary curiosities, and strange punishments. These works are chiefly compilations that preserve original sources, offering readable historical material on local social life in New England. Public information on his life and scholarly career is limited, and the value of his work lies more in its distinctive subjects and entertaining historical sources.