Letters to Dead Authors

Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.7

Word count: 200K words
Chapters: 20

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.Letters to Dead Authors by Andrew LangAuthor: Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Oct 1, 1998

Editor's review

This is a collection of epistolary essays by Andrew Lang, in which the author corresponds across time with writers of past ages in the form of letters addressed to deceased authors. Written in English throughout, the book has a witty tone colored by Victorian belletristic taste; it offers judgments on authors' works and characters while also reflecting implicitly on literary tradition and critical taste. Its value lies not in systematic argument but in that cordial, playful yet measured way of discussing literature and art, which makes it suitable reading as literary essays. There is no need to read it straight through; dipping into a letter and reading a few pages at random better conveys its feel for language and its wit. Readers familiar with the English literary canon will find extra pleasure in the figures and allusions mentioned; those less familiar can treat it as an entertaining index of authors, looking up works as they go. The original English makes some demands on language ability; the electronic edition is convenient for searching names and works and suits slow reading, excerpting, and comparative reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy English literary essays and epistolary writing
Literature lovers who want a light way to learn anecdotes about authors of the past
Readers with good English reading ability willing to read slowly and savor the language
Writers or teachers who need material on literary criticism and author commentary

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking systematic literary history or scholarly argument
Readers with weak English who are unused to Victorian prose style
Readers who prefer plot-driven narrative and fast reading pleasure

Reading tips

Start with letters to authors you know, then move on to unfamiliar figures to lower the barrier to entry.
Jot down the works and names mentioned in each letter to build your own extended reading list.
No need to read in order; it works well as a bedside or commute book for fragmentary reading.

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

To whom are these letters addressed? Is the content fiction or criticism?

The letters are addressed to deceased authors and are literary essays and commentary written by Lang in epistolary form, with an imaginative conversational tone; but the authors and literary topics discussed are real, not fictional story-like invention.

How difficult is the original English?

The text is English prose from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, with period style in syntax and wording and many allusions to authors and works. Readers with a solid English reading foundation who are willing to look up names and allusions will find it smoother; reading with annotations or search tools is recommended.

Do I need to know English literary history first to read it?

Not necessarily. The chapters are relatively independent, and you can start with authors you know. For unfamiliar figures, use them as leads to look up their works; readers familiar with the literary canon will more easily appreciate the allusions and wit, but this is not a prerequisite for understanding.

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

Lang, Andrew, 1844-1912 Author

Andrew Lang (1844–1912) was a British writer, poet and folklorist best known for compiling collections of fairy tales and myths. The library holds 77 of his works, including The Blue Fairy Book, The Red Fairy Book, The Yellow Fairy Book, The Violet Fairy Book and The Brown Fairy Book, as well as Tales of Troy and Greece and The Homeric Hymns. He gathered, edited and retold folk tales from Europe and around the world, naming the volumes by colour; his clear, fluent prose served both children and folklore scholarship. These collections preserved a wealth of oral material and shaped the modern English-speaking world's image of fairy tales, leaving a lasting influence on fairy-tale publishing and comparative story research. Public information on his life is limited, so this note focuses on his editorial and literary contributions.