Allegheny Episodes

Shoemaker, Henry W., 1880-1958Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 508K words
Chapters: 51

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.Allegheny Episodes by Henry W. ShoemakerAuthor: Shoemaker, Henry W., 1880-1958,Language: English, Class: F106: United States local history: Atlantic coast. Middle Atlantic States, Release Date: Nov 30, 2017

Editor's review

This collection of Allegheny episodes comes from Henry W. Shoemaker, a Pennsylvania local historian and man of letters, and belongs to the tradition of local history and folk narrative in the American Mid-Atlantic region. Set in the Allegheny Mountains, the book sits somewhere between local chronicle, legend collection, and popular history, and will appeal to readers interested in early settler life, frontier tales, and oral tradition in the Appalachian Mountains. Its value lies not in systematic historical argument but in preserving a body of regionally colored stories and memories of people, giving readers a sense of the pleasures and limitations of early twentieth-century American local history writing. Read it as a source-oriented rather than strictly scholarly work, and note the narrator's standpoint and period prejudices. As a public-domain ebook it is easily available, suitable as supplementary material for American local history, folklore, or English extensive reading, and handy for browsing before or after a trip to learn the cultural background of a destination.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in American local history and Appalachian mountain culture
Folklore enthusiasts studying legends, oral tradition, and local narrative
Intermediate to advanced English learners who need extensive reading material and prefer short story collections
Travelers planning a trip to the Pennsylvania mountains who want local background

Not a good fit for

Historical researchers expecting rigorous scholarly argument and a full apparatus of notes
Readers who prefer the pace of contemporary fiction and lack patience for old-fashioned narrative style
Learners still at the beginning stage of English reading who need extensive annotation

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents and skip-read pieces tied to place names and people; there is no need to read straight through.
Keep a map of Pennsylvania at hand and locate each story as you read to strengthen the sense of place.
Take brief notes on unfamiliar place names and dialect words, and look them up together after finishing.
Read alongside an introduction to American local chronicles or folklore to distinguish legendary elements in the narrative.

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 strictly historical work?

No. It is closer to a collection of local history and folk narrative, including legends, anecdotes about people, and local memories, and the narrative may contain hearsay and the author's period prejudices. It works as an introductory read for understanding local culture; for research, cross-check it against scholarly sources.

How difficult is the English, and what level is it suitable for?

The original is early twentieth-century English with long sentences and many place and personal names, making it intermediate to advanced overall. Readers with reading ability roughly at CET-4 or above, or those willing to read slowly with a dictionary, can attempt it; beginners may start with selected passages.

What should I keep in mind when reading a public-domain ebook?

Public-domain ebooks are usually proofread by volunteers and may contain minor typesetting or transcription errors. Choose a clearly typeset edition, judge obvious typos from context, and do not let occasional flaws spoil the overall reading.

Comments

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About the author

Shoemaker, Henry W., 1880-1958 Author

Henry W. Shoemaker (1880-1958) is an American author about whom relatively little is publicly known; his nationality, education, and professional career are not clearly documented. Three of his works are currently held in the collection, all centering on local history, natural history, and hunting culture in the United States. Among them, Allegheny Episodes gathers observations and anecdotes from the Allegheny region and has the flavor of local chronicles and essays; The Black Moose in Pennsylvania concerns the distribution of and observations about black moose in Pennsylvania, falling within natural history and wildlife writing; and A Catalogue of Early Pennsylvania and Other Firearms and Edged Weapons at is a catalogue of early Pennsylvania firearms and edged weapons. His writing thus tends to revolve around Pennsylvania's local memory, natural products, and collected artifacts, combining historical documentation with natural-history record-keeping and offering some reference value for understanding the region's history and folklore.