Alexandre Herculano

Jaime de Magalhães LimaProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 219K words
Chapters: 22

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. Alexandre Herculano by Jaime de Magalhães Lima. Author: Lima, Jaime de Magalhães, 1859-1936. Language: Portuguese. Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese. Release Date: Dec 17, 2009

Editor's review

This book is a critical biography of Alexandre Herculano by the Portuguese writer Jaime de Magalhães Lima, released free as an eBook by Project Gutenberg. Herculano was a major nineteenth-century Portuguese historian and novelist, occupying a key place in Portuguese Romantic literature and national historiography. Lima's own literary career spanned the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and his assessment carries the perspective of a contemporary observer rather than that of a later scholarly survey; this distance is itself part of the book's interest. Written in Portuguese and brief, it serves well as an introductory guide to Herculano and his work, and as supplementary material on the literary and social context of Portuguese Romanticism. It is best read alongside Herculano's historical works or historical novels, so that the specific subjects discussed in the critical biography can be appreciated. As a public-domain eBook, the text has no modern notes or introduction, and readers must supply background knowledge themselves.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Researchers who read Portuguese and want an initial understanding of Herculano's life and work
Students of Portuguese Romantic literature who need contemporary critical material
Readers interested in nineteenth-century Portuguese historiography and national narrative
eBook readers seeking free public-domain Portuguese texts

Not a good fit for

Readers unfamiliar with Portuguese who need a Chinese translation or bilingual edition
Professional researchers expecting a systematic academic biography, detailed chronology, and textual scholarship
Readers who want Herculano's own works rather than commentary by others

Reading tips

First consult an outline of Herculano's life and major works before reading this book, to avoid getting lost without notes.
Read the book's assessments of the writer and historian alongside Herculano's original works to test whether the criticism holds.
Since this is a public-domain electronic text, note personal names and titles as you read and fill in background information yourself.
Use it as one part of a thematic reading program on Portuguese Romanticism, comparing it with other contemporary critical biographies.

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 written by Herculano himself?

No. The author is Jaime de Magalhães Lima (1859–1936), and the book is a critical assessment of Alexandre Herculano—a biography-cum-criticism written by someone else. Herculano's own works must be sought separately.

What language background is needed to read this book?

The original is in Portuguese, and Project Gutenberg publishes the Portuguese public-domain electronic text with no Chinese translation included. Readers need some ability to read Portuguese, or should use a dictionary or translation tools as aids.

Why does the book have no modern notes or introduction?

Project Gutenberg mainly provides public-domain eBooks, presenting the original text and usually adding no modern scholarly introduction, notes, or chronology. Readers must supply the historical background and information on Herculano's works themselves.

Is this book suitable as a starting point for studying Herculano?

It can serve as supplementary material, but not as the only starting point. It offers a contemporary observer's perspective and lacks a systematic chronology and textual scholarship. It is advisable first to grasp Herculano's basic life and major works, then use this book as a supplement and counterpoint.

Comments

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About the author

Jaime de Magalhães Lima Author · Portuguese · 1859–1936

Jaime de Magalhães Lima (1859–1936) was a Portuguese philosopher, poet, essayist and literary critic, born in Aveiro and a law graduate of the University of Coimbra. His writing spans literary criticism, social politics and religious ethics; his works include Democracy, Psalms of the Prisoner, Vegetarianism and the Morality of the Race and City and Landscape, as well as a study of Alexandre Herculano. He actively advocated vegetarianism and animal protection, and his works also resonate in the inspirational-growth category. Public information is limited and many details of his life are unclear, yet his surviving works show a writer who explored faith, social justice and personal cultivation in essays and poetic prose, in a calm and introspective style, taking part in the intellectual debates of Portugal from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century.