The San Francisco Fairy: A Tale of Early Times

AnonymousProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.2

Word count: 11K words
Chapters: 2

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 San Francisco Fairy: A Tale of Early Times by AnonymousAuthor: Anonymous,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 9, 2013

Editor's review

This slim English volume is set in early San Francisco and unfolds its narrative through the allegorical figure of a “fairy,” placing it among early American texts where local legend and fantasy intersect. Its value lies not in intricate plotting but in the romantic coloring that literary imagination gave to San Francisco in its founding years, offering a glimpse of how settlers of the frontier era imagined and hoped for their new city. The prose is somewhat archaic and the pacing unhurried, making it a light read for anyone curious about early American regional literature and urban legend. Because the author is anonymous and the work dates from an early period, some expressions feel distant from the narrative habits familiar to today’s readers; it is best read both as a literary-historical document and as a short piece for pleasure, without expecting tension in the plot, and with attention to its linguistic charm and period flavor. The electronic edition is provided by Project Gutenberg, making it easy to search and carry with you.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early American regional legends and stories of urban origins
Language learners who want to practice reading short English originals and prefer a classical style
Readers studying American literary history, anonymous works, and popular narrative
Casual readers who enjoy allegorical, fantastical short pieces

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a full-length novel with complex plot and character arcs
Beginners who need modern vernacular or bilingual annotations to read smoothly
Readers seeking factual historical research on San Francisco

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the outline of the story, then revisit the passages describing early San Francisco to appreciate its period imagination.
It helps to know something about the conventions of nineteenth-century American regional legend; treat the book as a short sample rather than a historical source.
The English original is short; read a small section each day and note unfamiliar words, combining language study with literary appreciation.

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 real history or fiction?

Judging from the title and the available information, it is a literary tale set in early San Francisco, unfolding through the figure of a “fairy.” It belongs to legend and fantasy rather than strict historical record. Read it as a literary text, not as a source of historical fact.

Why is the author listed as Anonymous?

The information shows the book is by an anonymous author, which is common for early popular works and legendary material. Anonymity does not hinder reading, but it means the work cannot easily be interpreted through the author’s biography; it is better understood from the text itself and its period context.

How difficult is the English? Is it suitable for beginners?

The text dates from an early period and its language is somewhat classical, with sentence patterns and vocabulary that are distant from what today’s beginners are used to. Readers with intermediate English or those willing to read slowly with a dictionary will fare better; complete beginners are advised to start with annotated or bilingual editions.

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.