Dürer

Sweetser, M. F. (Moses Foster), 1848-1897Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 174K words
Chapters: 18

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.Dürer by M. F. SweetserAuthor: Sweetser, M. F. (Moses Foster), 1848-1897,Language: English, Class: ND: Fine Arts: Painting, Release Date: Jun 13, 2010

Editor's review

This book is a biographical and critical account of Dürer written by the late nineteenth-century American author M. F. Sweetser, and is a free public-domain e-book from Project Gutenberg. It is not a modern scholarly monograph but an artist's biography in the Victorian vein: the author interweaves Dürer's engravings, paintings and drawings with a chronological narrative of his life, touching also on Nuremberg's social milieu and the backdrop of the Reformation, in an elegant and highly narrative prose. For Chinese readers its value lies chiefly in offering a historical perspective from early Dürer scholarship, to be read alongside modern art-historical works and to observe how different eras have understood the same master of the Northern Renaissance. The English original is of moderate length, suitable as English reading material in art history and as supplementary reading for readers interested in print history and the German Renaissance after an introductory grounding. Note that the views and historical claims in the book bear the limitations of their era and should not be treated as the sole reference.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Dürer and the Northern Renaissance who wish to encounter an early English critical biography
Students with basic English reading ability who want to approach art-historical prose in the original
Lovers of prints and drawings willing to understand the background of Dürer's works through biography
Learners needing supplementary English source readings for art history courses

Not a good fit for

Specialist researchers seeking the latest scholarship and rigorous textual criticism
Readers who struggle with English and want only quick conclusions from image analysis
General leisure readers who rely on Chinese translations and cannot easily consult the original

Reading tips

First read the plate captions for Dürer's representative works, then the biographical text, to build correspondences between works and life.
Read alongside a modern Dürer study, noting points where the book diverges from contemporary conclusions.
After each chapter, write a 300-character Chinese summary to test your grasp of the English biography's arguments.
Excerpt the passages on social and religious background separately as reference material on the German Renaissance.

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 in Chinese or in English?

According to the available information, this is an English-language public-domain e-book released by Project Gutenberg, written by M. F. Sweetser, and the language is English. Some English reading ability is required; the available information does not mention a Chinese translation.

Can this book serve as an authoritative reference for research on Dürer?

It should not be relied on as the sole authoritative reference. Written in the late nineteenth century, it is an early critical biography whose views and facts reflect the limitations of its time. It is best used as supplementary reading in art history, alongside modern scholarship, to understand how interpretations of Dürer have differed across periods.

Should I learn about Dürer's life before reading it?

Not necessarily. The book itself follows a biographical narrative, so it is suitable for building familiarity as you read. If you first look through plates of Dürer's major works and then turn to the text, it will be easier to connect the descriptions with specific paintings and prints.

What should I keep in mind when reading the e-book edition?

Public-domain e-books usually come in several formats, and the layout of text and images varies by edition. Where the book describes works of art, it is advisable to read alongside reliable image resources rather than imagining the images from the text alone, which can hinder understanding of the works.

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About the author

Sweetser, M. F. (Moses Foster), 1848-1897 Author · American · 1848–1897

Moses Foster Sweetser (1848–1897) was an American art historian and writer. Public information about his life is limited, and his main contribution lies in art-historical writing and artists' biographies. One work by him is held in the collection, Dürer, a study devoted to the German Renaissance painter Albrecht Dürer. According to the existing profile, he wrote several biographies of artists, focusing on introducing artists' lives and creative output and conveying art-historical knowledge to general readers. Such biographical writing helped promote the study of European art in the late nineteenth-century United States and offered readers accessible, systematic introductions to masters such as Dürer. His subjects centered on celebrated European artists, and his style combined narrative with critical commentary.