Showing results by author "ciesse" in All Categories

The quiet Dutch community of Sleepy Hollow lay in the Adirondack mountains on the western shore of the mighty Hudson River in America’s colonial period. The solitude of the woods was breathtaking, and not even a schoolmaster was immune from the eerie miasma which everyone knew permeated the dense forest. Written in 1820, Washington Irving’s The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow has become a classic of American literature, and has been retold in many different ways. Here is the original, from Irving’s own hand. (Summary by Chip)

Benjamin Bonneville spent the years 1832 to 1835 on the adventure of a lifetime, leading an expedition of trapping, trading, and exploring in the wilds of Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Nevada and California. Here is Washington Irving's colorful summary of the world that Bonneville observed, experienced, and cherished: the gay free trapper and his steed, decked out in wild array, and tinkling with bells and trinketry; the savage war chief, plumed and painted and ever on the prowl; the traders' cavalcade, winding through defiles or over naked plains, with the stealthy war ...

Famed American humorist Washington Irving published a series of short stories telling of his adventures traveling from America to England. This volume contains some of his observations about that trip, including his impressions of the English countryside, the differences between the wealthy and the poor, rural customs, and other aspects of British culture. During a visit to the library located in the depths of Westminster Abbey, Irving muses on the issue of why some examples of English literature stand the test of time, while others are lost to history. The collection concludes with Irving's ...

Washington Irving, an author, biographer, historian, and diplomat, completed his first major work, a satire of contemporary local history and politics entitled A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker in 1809. Prior to its publication, Irving started a promotional hoax (not unlike some modern-day publicity stunts?) by placing fake missing persons advertisements in local newspapers asking for help in locating Diedrich Knickerbocker. As a continuation of the hoax, Irving also published a notice purported to be written by the...

Volume 1 of a ten volume collection of amusing tales, observations and anecdotes by America's greatest wordsmiths. This work includes selections by such household favorites as Mark Twain, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Benjamin Franklin and Washington Irving. - Summary by Lynne Thompson

"Astoria" describes the many perilous adventures, discoveries, and disasters experienced by the brave Americans who joined the 1810-1813 Astor Expedition to Oregon. The wealthy New York fur magnate John Jacob Astor masterminded an extensive enterprise with the hope of setting up a fur trading center and outpost of American colonization at the mouth of the Columbia River. Journeying by land and by sea, the intrepid travelers endured incredible hardships, utter exhaustion, and near starvation. Especially interesting and harrowing were the odysseys of Wilson Price Hunt and Robert Stuart who ...

Although this book may not have the immediately recognizable title of, say, “Rip Van Winkle” or “Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” this book deserves its place among the pantheon of Washington Irving’s classics. Irving, who traveled extensively in his youth and throughout his life, was given a firsthand look into the lives of two great writers of the Empire: Sir Walter Scott and Lord Byron.Irving first chronicles his visit to Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scott, whom he notes had not, at the time of his stay, yet received his title of “baronet.” Scott gives Irving a personal tour ...

The work, which was admired by Herman Melville and Joseph Conrad for its authentic portrayal of a seafaring life and takes place during the American Revolution, launched a whole genre of maritime fiction. It features a mysterious and almost superhuman American sea pilot (based on the American hero John Paul Jones) who fights battles off the coast of England against the British and American loyalists. One of the book’s themes is the ambiguous nature of loyalty. Although often bogged down by complicated nautical terminology and intrusive philosophical dialogue, the novel is nevertheless noted ...

The Deerslayer, or The First Warpath (1841) was the last of James Fenimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking tales to be written. Its 1740-1745 time period makes it the first installment chronologically and in the lifetime of the hero of the Leatherstocking tales, Natty Bumppo. (Introduction by Wikipedia)

This is a story that is set in 16th century Germany. Characters representing the various classes of the remnants of feudalism and the rising bourgeois class struggle against each other. Placed in the light of the very recent and polarizing Protestant Reformation, the characters' tensions increase. - Summary by Joel Kindrick

The Pioneers: The Sources of the Susquehanna; a Descriptive Tale is one of the Leatherstocking Tales, a series of five novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper. The Pioneers was first of these books to be published (1823), but the period of time covered by the book (principally 1793) makes it the fourth chronologically. (The others are The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, and The Prairie.)The story takes place on the rapidly advancing frontier of New York State and features a middle-aged Leatherstocking (Natty Bumppo), Judge Marmaduke Temple of Templeton, whose life...

LibriVox volunteers bring you 15 recordings of My Brigantine by James Fenimore Cooper.This was the Weekly Poetry project for December 26, 2021.-----After a stint on a commercial voyage, James Fenimore Cooper served in the U.S. Navy as a midshipman, where he learned the technology of managing sailing vessels which greatly influenced many of his novels and other writings. Cooper, beloved though he is as a novelist, hasn't drawn much attention for his poetry. Here is one of his pieces expressing his appreciation for a beautiful ship, taken from his 1830 novel "The Water-Witch". - Summary by ...

Take a fascinating journey from France to America through the "eyes" of a pocket handkerchief. She marvels at the vastness of the universe which the Creator devised and glories in her own fabrication by the young hands of a French peasant. All the while, she sees the intricacies of Providence in her life, as well as those about her. (Summary by Keith Salis)

Natty Bumppo goes by many names: La Longue Carabine, Hawk Eye, Leatherstocking, and in this tale, The Pathfinder. Guide, scout, hunter, and when put to it, soldier, he also fills a lot of roles in pre-Revolution upstate New York. An old friend, Sergeant Dunham of the 55th Regiment of Foot, asks him to guide his daughter through the wilderness to the fort at Oswego where Dunham serves. With the French engaging native Indian allies against the British and the Yankee colonists, such a journey is far from safe. Dunham has a plan in mind - to see his daughter Mable married off to the most ...

James Fenimore Cooper's second novel, The Spy (1821), is based on Sir Walter Scott's Waverly series, and tells an adventure tale about the American Revolution. The protagonist is Harvey Birch, a supposed loyalist who actually is a spy for George Washington, disguised as 'Mr Harper.' The book brought Cooper fame and wealth, and is regarded as the first great success in American fiction.(Summary by Gord MacKenzie)

Le récit a pour théâtre l’Amérique du Nord, pendant la guerre de Sept Ans. Les affrontements entre français et anglais en forment la toile de fond. Cooper décrit notamment la bataille de Fort William Henry qui oppose, en juillet et août 1757, les troupes du général français Montcalm (et de ses alliés amérindiens) à celles du colonel britannique Munro. - Résumé de WIKIPEDIA

Fifteen short stories by Antoinette Ogden from French and Spanish writers of many times. - Summary by david wales

A classic Victorian novel and a historical novel rolled into one! Read about court and army life during the reign of Queen Anne - a story of Catholic - Protestant intrigue, and the party which aspired to the restoration of Bonny Prince Charlie. And, a good love story as well. (Summary by Karen Merline)

The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family was written in serial form in 1854- 1855 by the author of such works as Vanity Fair, The Book Of Snobs. It tells the story of a few generations of the Newcome family: their rise to respectability, marriages, love, and the culture in which they lived. The novel teaches the reader what it was like to live in Victorian England - Summary by Stav Nisser

In Pendennis, William Makepeace Thackeray skillfully shows the coming of age of Arthur Pendennis, a young gentleman trying to make his way in the world. Pen's difficulties in finding his place in the difficult maze of social obstacles are created to some extent by his being raised in the country and being from an ancient though impoverished family. We follow his course from the village in which he was raised via Oxbridge to London, meeting the most memorable characters, falling in and out of love, navigating the difficulties of society, and hopefully finally arriving at a happy end. - Summary ...