In the Time That Was

Thorne, James Frederic, 1871-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.2

Word count: 41K words
Chapters: 5

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.In the Time That Was by James Frederic ThorneAuthor: Thorne, James Frederic, 1871-,Language: English, Class: GR: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation: Folklore, Release Date: May 16, 2008

Editor's review

This book is a collection of folk tales by James Frederick Thorne, classified under folklore. As a public-domain ebook, it preserves the textual style of early folklore records and suits readers interested in English folk narratives and tale motifs for reference reading. The stories mostly come from oral tradition, and the language bears the marks of its time, reading more like browsing a folklore archive than a modern retelling. Its value lies in presenting narrative raw material with little embellishment, offering some reference for studying tale types and comparing motifs across regions. As a public-domain ebook, its layout and notes are relatively plain, so readers need to sort out the structure themselves. Use it as supplementary material for folklore research or as a light reading anthology for understanding English folk narrative style, without expecting plot coherence or completeness.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in English folk tales and tale motifs
Folklore and anthropology students doing reference reading
Readers needing public-domain English texts as language learning material
Readers who enjoy short narratives and fragmented reading

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting modern retellings or tightly plotted story collections
Beginning researchers needing detailed annotations and scholarly introductions
Readers impatient with archaic English expressions and plain layout

Reading tips

Start with the table of contents, read closely the pieces related to your research or interest, and skim the rest.
Note recurring tale motifs as you read for cross-comparison.
When encountering unfamiliar expressions, infer from context rather than checking every word, to maintain reading rhythm.
For study, select short pieces for retelling or translation practice.

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 a complete story collection or a selection?

This is a public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg, containing folk tale texts compiled by the author. The information does not state whether it is a selection; refer to the actual ebook's table of contents and browse it before reading to understand the scope.

Can readers with average English read this book?

The language bears the marks of its time, with some archaic expressions. Readers with intermediate English can grasp the gist from context, but for fluent reading they may need a dictionary or a modern retelling for comparison.

Is this book suitable for citation in folklore research?

As a public-domain primary text, it can serve as reference material for folk narratives, but it lacks modern scholarly annotations and version notes. For formal research, use it alongside annotated editions and related scholarly literature.

Comments

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About the author

Thorne, James Frederic, 1871- Author · 1871

James Frederic Thorne (born 1871) is an author about whom publicly available information is limited; little is known of his life, and his nationality, education, and professional career are not clearly documented. Only one of his works is held in the collection, In the Time That Was. Judging from the title and surviving records, the book appears to look back on past events and may be narrative in nature, but its exact genre, publication date, and contents lack reliable evidence and should not be conjectured. On the available record, Thorne's writing is represented chiefly by this single work, and the themes and stylistic features of his writing await further documentation. Readers interested in him and his work may treat this book as the main point of entry, while bearing in mind that public information is limited and avoiding excessive inference.