The American Postal Service

Melius, LouisProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.1
Word count
259K words
Chapters
26

Tags

English Originals Social Sciences Public ServiceInfrastructureTeam CollaborationAdministrative HistoryTelegraph HistoryPostal SystemInstitutional EvolutionPolicy AnalysisArchive ResearchSocial Observation

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.The American Postal Service by Louis MeliusAuthor: Melius, Louis,Language: English, Class: HE: Social sciences: Transportation and communications, Release Date: Jan 18, 2015

Editor's review

This early systematic English-language study of the American postal service belongs to the literature on transportation and communications. Melius presents the workings of the postal network from an institutional and operational perspective. It is not a popular introduction for a general audience but rather an industry观察 written in its historical context: from the organization of postal routes to the positioning of public service, it retains the marks of its era. For readers researching the history of public utilities, the evolution of communications institutions, or English-language reading practice, the book offers primary source material that shows how people a century ago understood the postal service as infrastructure. As a public-domain e-book, the text is easy to obtain and suitable as supplementary material for topical reading. It should be read as a historical source rather than a guide to current practice; note the distinction between historical institutions and contemporary practice, and use annotations or background materials to understand older expressions in order to appreciate its value.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the table of contents and chapter introductions to build a framework for the whole book before moving into details.
  2. Keep pen and paper ready to record institutional terms and agency names for easy cross-reference.
  3. Read alongside contemporaneous materials on communications history to avoid mistaking historical descriptions for current conditions.
  4. Advance through fixed chapters each week, and write a short English summary after finishing to consolidate understanding.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26

FAQ

Is this book suitable for understanding today's US Postal Service? Not really. The book was written early and describes the organization and operation of postal services at that time, which differ greatly from contemporary operations. For current conditions, look for recent industry materials; this book is better used as a reference for historical background and institutional evolution, with attention to differences of era.
How difficult is the original English text? The text is institutional English with fairly formal sentences and a high density of terminology, but the structure is clear. Readers with university-level English reading ability can work through it with a dictionary; if the goal is to practice reading English documents, chapter-by-chapter close reading with a terminology list is more effective.
What should I keep in mind when reading a public-domain e-book? Public-domain e-books are easy to obtain, but typesetting and proofreading quality vary and scanned-text artifacts may remain. Choose a clearly typeset edition, judge doubtful passages from context, and compare other editions when necessary; do not let isolated typos affect your understanding of the whole.

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

Melius, Louis Author

Louis Melius is an author about whom little is publicly known; his nationality, dates of birth and death, and other basic biographical details are not clearly recorded in available public sources. The one work confirmed to be his is The American Postal Service, which is also the only title by him held in our collection. Judging from the title and subject matter, the book focuses on the organization and operation of the American postal system and belongs to the genre of descriptive writing on institutions and public services. Because detailed records of the author's life and writing background are lacking, it is difficult to assess the full range of his style, and no other works or social roles can be confirmed. For researchers, the book may serve as reference material for understanding the history and workings of the American postal service; for general readers, it is best treated as a specialized subject reading. Overall, Melius remains a low-profile figure due to limited documentation, and this work is the main basis for understanding him and his thinking.