Things Seen in Spain

Catherine Gasquoine HartleyProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.9

Word count: 161K words
Chapters: 17

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.Things seen in Spain by C. Gasquoine HartleyAuthor: Hartley, C. Gasquoine (Catherine Gasquoine), 1867-1928,Language: English, Class: DP: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Spain, Portugal, Release Date: Jul 10, 2012

Editor's review

This book is a record of Spanish travel by the early twentieth-century English writer Catherine Gasquoine Hartley, a typical example of travel writing and observation of places and customs. Its value lies not in offering a today's travel guide but in presenting Spanish society, cityscapes and details of daily life through the eyes of an outside observer, with a distinct period perspective and personal tone. For readers studying Spanish history and culture and the tradition of travel literature, such texts can be read alongside Spanish history and regional cultural studies, helping to understand how foreigners in the early twentieth century imagined and framed Spain. It is suitable as thematic reading or supplementary material rather than an introductory guide. While reading, note how the author selects objects of observation, how narrative organizes impressions, and which judgments carry period limitations. Read with a comparative awareness, placing it beside contemporary Spanish writing to appreciate how the observer's position shapes the narrative. The public-domain electronic text from Project Gutenberg is easy to search and cite, making it suitable for close reading with notes.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Spanish history and culture and travel literature
Scholars and students studying early twentieth-century European travel writing and exotic imagination
Writers needing public-domain English texts for textual analysis or citation
Readers who enjoy slow reading of place observation rather than practical guides

Not a good fit for

Tourists seeking contemporary Spanish travel routes and practical information
Readers who prefer systematic historical facts over personal impressions
Beginners intolerant of early twentieth-century English travel-writing style

Reading tips

Read the table of contents and chapter titles first to establish a geographical and thematic framework of the objects of observation
Mark the author's period-biased judgments as you read and reflect on them afterwards
Cross-reference with a general history of Spain or a regional culture reader
Use full-text search of the electronic edition for keywords and compile recurring images the author focuses on

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 contemporary Spain travel guide?

No. It is an early twentieth-century record of travel in Spain, focused on personal observation and description of places, and does not provide contemporary practical information such as transport, accommodation or routes. If you need a travel guide, choose a contemporary one; if you want to understand how foreigners saw Spain, this is more valuable.

How difficult is the English, and what background is needed?

It is early twentieth-century English travel prose, with long sentences and formal vocabulary, but no highly specialized terminology. University-level English reading ability is enough to read it through; place names and historical figures can be checked as you go. Try one chapter first to gauge the style.

Is it suitable for academic citation?

It can be cited as supplementary material for travel literature, studies of foreign images or the reception history of Spain, but note that it is personal observation rather than strict historical source, and the author's judgments carry period limitations. When citing, state the nature of the text and corroborate it with historical works.

How should reading be paced?

It is not advisable to read it straight through. Read by city or theme, and after each chapter write a few observation notes recording the author's focus and biases. For research, build a keyword list, count recurring images, and then return to the whole.

Comments

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About the author

Catherine Gasquoine Hartley Author · British · 1867–1928

Catherine Gasquoine Hartley (1867–1928) was a British writer and art historian, born in Madagascar to a British missionary family; she also served as headmistress of a girls' school. Her writing career falls into two phases. Early on she focused on Spanish art and travel, producing works such as The Story of Seville and Things Seen in Spain. Later she turned to issues of gender, exploring women's historical situation, moral norms and relations between the sexes in The Truth About Woman, The Position of Woman in Primitive Society: A Study of the Matriarchy, Women's Wild Oats: Essays on the Re-fixing of Moral Standards, and Motherhood and the Relationships of the Sexes. Her work combines the care of an art historian with a concern for social reform. She died in a car accident in 1928. Public information is limited, and details of her life remain largely unknown; existing accounts rest mainly on the subjects and development of the works listed above.