The Wedding Ring

Talmage, T. De Witt (Thomas De Witt), 1832-1902Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 389K words
Chapters: 39

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 Wedding Ring by T. De Witt TalmageAuthor: Talmage, T. De Witt (Thomas De Witt), 1832-1902,Language: English, Class: HQ: Social sciences: The family, Marriage, Sex and Gender, Release Date: Aug 16, 2007

Editor's review

This book is a discussion of marriage by the 19th-century American minister and orator T. De Witt Talmage, taking the wedding ring as its point of departure; it falls under the social sciences category of family and marriage. Grounded in religious ethics and the social customs of his time, the author discusses the formation, responsibilities, and maintenance of the marital relationship, in a style marked by the rhetoric and moral exhortation of 19th-century sermons. For today's readers its value lies mainly in historical material and cultural observation: it offers a window into the mainstream ideas about marriage, family, and gender roles in Euro-American society more than a century ago, and can serve as a primary text for studying the relationship between religious discourse and social custom. The views expressed bear clear limitations of their era, and the book is best read as a historical document rather than a contemporary guide to marriage. It suits readers interested in the history of marriage, the social history of religion, or 19th-century English prose, and is best read with a comparative and critical eye.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Social science readers studying 19th-century Euro-American ideas of marriage and family history
Scholars of English literature interested in religious ethical discourse and sermon style
Culture enthusiasts who wish to understand the historical evolution of moral discourse on marriage

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking contemporary marriage counseling and practical advice
Readers hoping for systematic academic argument or data-driven research
Beginning readers unaccustomed to 19th-century sermon-style English rhetoric

Reading tips

Begin with the table of contents and the opening to grasp the overall structure of the author's argument built around the ring as symbol.
Note down judgments that reflect the prejudices of the era as you read, and compare them with contemporary views.
Read alongside sources on 19th-century American social history to understand the context of the text.

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 suitable as a marriage guide?

No. Written in the 19th century, the book argues from religious ethics and the social customs of its time, and its views carry clear limitations of that era; it is not based on modern marriage research. It is better read as a historical document and a source on the history of ideas, offering a view of mainstream discourse on marriage from more than a century ago, without adopting its specific claims wholesale.

What level of English is needed to read this book?

The book is in the original English, in the style of 19th-century sermon prose, with long sentences, considerable rhetorical flourish, and religious vocabulary. Readers with strong English reading skills and the patience for long sentences will find it smoother going; beginners may use annotations or a parallel translation, first grasping the gist of each chapter before reading closely.

What is the publication situation of this edition?

The book is distributed by Project Gutenberg as a free ebook; the initial release information shows August 2007, with related records in 2019. It is an electronic transcription of a public-domain text, without a modern editor's introduction or scholarly notes, so readers must supply background material themselves.

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About the author

Talmage, T. De Witt (Thomas De Witt), 1832-1902 Author

T. De Witt Talmage (Thomas De Witt Talmage, 1832–1902) was a well-known nineteenth-century American preacher and religious writer. Public information about him is limited, and the details of his life are difficult to verify, but the five works held in the collection reveal the focus of his writing. He was concerned with the character and fate of biblical figures, as shown in Bible Characters; New Tabernacle Sermons reflects the publication of his sermons in book form; The Wedding Ring deals with marriage and family ethics; and The Abominations of Modern Society offers criticism of the social customs of his day. Another work, T. De Witt Talmage as I Knew Him, records his words and deeds as remembered by those close to him. His writing has a strong sermonic tone, with plain argument and abundant examples, addressed to ordinary believers, and it found a readership among the religious literature of his time.