Citt and Bumpkin

L‘Estrange, Roger, Sir, 1616-1704Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 129K words
Chapters: 13

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.Citt and Bumpkin (1680) by Sir Roger L'EstrangeAuthor: L'Estrange, Roger, Sir, 1616-1704,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Dec 19, 2011

Editor's review

Citt and Bumpkin is an English satirical dialogue pamphlet published in 1680 by Sir Roger L'Estrange, a work of English literature (class PR), now available as a free e-book from Project Gutenberg. L'Estrange was a leading Tory propagandist of the Stuart Restoration; this pamphlet, in the form of a dialogue between a London citizen and a country bumpkin, discusses the political controversies of the day over the Popish Plot and the succession, displaying the linguistic style and polemical methods of seventeenth-century English political satire. Its value lies not in narrative but in its presentation, as primary source material, of the rhetorical strategies and partisan discourse of Restoration political propaganda, making it useful to readers studying the history of English literature, political history, and the satirical tradition. Because the text is written in seventeenth-century English and is dense with allusions to the political background of the time, ordinary readers will find it hard going on their own; it is better suited to research reading or as supplementary material within a historical context.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars and students studying seventeenth-century English literature and the tradition of political satire
Readers interested in the history and political propaganda of the English Restoration period
Those engaged in linguistic research on early modern English texts
Researchers in English history who need primary sources

Not a good fit for

General readers looking for light storytelling or modern fiction
Readers with limited English who would struggle with seventeenth-century English
Those without background knowledge of English political history who are unwilling to consult annotations

Reading tips

First learn the historical background of the Popish Plot and the Exclusion Bill before approaching the text.
Read alongside a modern annotated edition or related scholarship, looking up seventeenth-century political allusions as you go.
Work through the dialogue section by section, noting each side's positions and use of satirical techniques.
Read it against other Tory or Whig pamphlets of the period to compare propaganda strategies.

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

What is this book about?

It is an English satirical dialogue pamphlet published in 1680, discussing the political controversies then surrounding the Popish Plot and the succession in the form of a dialogue between a London citizen and a country bumpkin; it belongs to the political propaganda literature of the Restoration period.

Can ordinary readers understand it directly?

Not easily. The text uses seventeenth-century English and is heavily laden with the political figures, events, and partisan discourse of the time; without background knowledge it is hard to grasp what is being satirized and what argument is being made, so reading it with historical materials or scholarly annotations is recommended.

Why does Project Gutenberg include this book?

Project Gutenberg is dedicated to providing free e-books in the public domain; this book is a public-domain work of English literature, so it has been digitized and made freely available to researchers and readers.

Comments

Find this book

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

L‘Estrange, Roger, Sir, 1616-1704 Author · English · 1616–1704

Sir Roger L'Estrange (1616–1704) was an English Royalist political writer, translator and press censor. Living through the political turmoil of seventeenth-century England, he became known for his staunch Royalist stance, and his writings and activities were closely tied to the cause of the Crown and the established Church. He founded the newspaper The Observator, using it as a platform for political commentary against Parliamentarians and dissenters; his style was sharp and direct, with a strongly polemical tone. Two of his works are held in the collection: Selections from the Observator and Citt and Bumpkin. The former is a selection from his newspaper writings, while the latter uses dialogue to satirize Puritan and plebeian political participation, reflecting his characteristic use of satire and dialogue. Because public sources are limited, details of his early life and specific offices are difficult to verify, but his political writing and newspaper activity during the Stuart Restoration had some influence on the formation of English political opinion at the time.