Rollo in Paris

Abbott, Jacob, 1803-1879Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 248K words
Chapters: 25

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.Rollo in Paris by Jacob AbbottAuthor: Abbott, Jacob, 1803-1879,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Oct 11, 2007

Editor's review

Rollo in Paris is one volume in Jacob Abbott's "Rollo" series, a type of travel-and-education story common in nineteenth-century American children's literature. Rollo's experiences in Paris form the narrative thread, and the author uses travel scenes to introduce young readers to the city, its social customs, and lessons in conduct, with a clear didactic purpose and the marks of its era. Its value lies in offering a window onto how nineteenth-century American children's books portrayed foreign cities: information and moral instruction interwoven, with patient narration and a plain tone, making it useful to readers studying the history of children's literature or education. For the general reader, the book is slow-paced and weak in plot, reading more like a young person's travel sketch; its descriptions of foreign culture also carry the limitations of the period's perspective and should be read critically. As a Project Gutenberg public-domain ebook, this edition is the original English text without modern notes and is best read alongside background material.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Students and researchers of nineteenth-century children's literature and educational readers
Readers who want to understand early travel-education writing through English public-domain books
Learners with intermediate English reading ability who enjoy slow-paced narrative
Readers interested in writing about Paris and cross-cultural observation

Not a good fit for

Novel readers expecting tight plotting and strong dramatic conflict
Beginners with weak English who need notes and guided introductions
Readers seeking practical information of the kind found in modern travel guides

Reading tips

Read the preface or series background first to understand the purpose of the "Rollo" series before starting the text.
Compare the book's descriptions of Paris with today's geographical knowledge and note the differences of era.
After each chapter, summarize in two or three sentences what Rollo saw and what lesson the author intended to convey.
For research, mark passages of moral instruction and analyze their narrative strategies and period assumptions.

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 a novel or a travel guide?

It is closer to a children's educational story framed by travel: it has a protagonist and a continuous series of experiences, but plot conflict is weak, and the focus is on introducing the city and conveying rules of conduct. It does not serve the practical informational function of a modern travel guide and should be read as literature rather than as a guidebook.

Will not having read other works in the "Rollo" series affect my understanding?

Only to a limited extent. Each volume usually centers on one experience, and this book's main thread is Rollo's time in Paris. Knowing the series' overall setup helps with understanding the characters and the author's aims, but the book can be followed on its own.

Are the book's descriptions of Paris still accurate today?

The book reflects the cityscape and social attitudes of the nineteenth century, with a clear gap from contemporary Paris, and some descriptions carry the cultural prejudices of the time. It is better read as a historical text, to observe how people of that era viewed the world, rather than as an account of present conditions.

Comments

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About the author

Abbott, Jacob, 1803-1879 Author

Jacob Abbott (1803–1879) was an American author and educator best known for his historical and biographical works. The library holds 51 of his works, including Darius the Great, History of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, History of Julius Caesar, Richard II, Cyrus the Great, Pyrrhus, Cleopatra, and Peter the Great. Writing for young readers, he wove individual lives into the broader context of their times, narrating the rise and fall of rulers and figures in clear, accessible prose that made history both readable and instructive. His historical biographies circulated widely and helped popularize history reading. Public information on the details of his life is limited, so this profile focuses on the subjects and style of his works.