The Black Lily

Gastyne, Jules de, 1847-1920Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.3

Word count: 430K words
Chapters: 44

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.Le lys noir by Jules de GastyneAuthor: Gastyne, Jules de, 1847-1920,Language: French, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Nov 29, 2005

Editor's review

Le lys noir (The Black Lily) is a French work by Jules de Gastyne (1847–1920), classified under Romance-language literature (French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc.) and released by Project Gutenberg as a free ebook. As the earliest provider of free ebooks, Project Gutenberg—whose founder Michael Hart pioneered the ebook in 1971—gives this book a dual identity as both a literary text and a sample in the history of digital reading. For French readers, it offers a feel for the language of French narrative literature from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century; for literary researchers, it provides a freely accessible public-domain text suited to observations at the level of edition and language. It is best approached not with the expectations of contemporary genre fiction but within the context of the dissemination of French literature and the building of public digital libraries, so that one can read the story while also appreciating how free ebook projects promote access to classic texts.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literature lovers with French reading ability
Readers studying French literature and public-domain texts
Those interested in Project Gutenberg's French catalogue
Learners wanting French originals for extensive reading practice

Not a good fit for

Readers with no French who need a Chinese translation
Readers who prefer fast-paced contemporary genre fiction
Those needing detailed scholarly annotations and background introductions

Reading tips

Assess your French reading level first, then decide between intensive and extensive reading
Proceed chapter by chapter, using a dictionary for archaic expressions and unfamiliar words
Consult background material on the author and late-nineteenth-century French literature
Read the version information together with Project Gutenberg's notes to understand the text's source

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 the original French edition?

Yes. Le lys noir is a French work by Jules de Gastyne, classified under Romance-language literature. Project Gutenberg provides the original French electronic text without Chinese translation, so readers need corresponding French ability beforehand.

Who was the author Gastyne?

Sources indicate that Jules de Gastyne was born in 1847 and died in 1920 and was a French-language literary author. Beyond this, the input provides no further biographical details; readers may consult reliable French literary reference works for his writing background.

Why can this book be read for free?

This book is released by Project Gutenberg, the earliest project to offer free ebooks, whose founder Michael Hart originated the ebook concept in 1971. It is a public-domain text and therefore freely accessible, though relevant terms should be observed when using it.

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

Gastyne, Jules de, 1847-1920 Author · French · 1847–1920

Jules de Gastyne (1847–1920) was a French writer of popular fiction, known for adventure and historical novels. His representative work is Le lys noir. Public information about him is limited, and details of his life, education, and writing career remain difficult to ascertain. What can be confirmed is his strength in popular narrative: his works center on adventure and historical settings, with strong plotting and an orientation toward a broad readership. Only one of his works is held in this collection, which suggests that his writing has not yet been extensively translated or introduced in the Chinese-speaking world and that the full scope of his work awaits further documentation. Overall, he belongs to the circle of French popular-fiction writers active from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and his work offers a reference point for understanding the popular reading tastes of that period.