Project Gutenberg 2015-04-27 Public domain in the USA. 1647 Ashton, John 1834 1911 11019751 Chap-books of the Eighteenth Century With Facsimiles, Notes, and Introduction Chap-books of the 18th Century Produced by Chris Curnow, Lesley Halamek, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Chap-books of the Eighteenth Century" by John Ashton is a historical compilation that explores a variety of inexpensive, popular literature produced during the eighteenth century. Written in the late 19th century, this collection aims to preserve and document the unique cultural artifacts of an era when chap-books were a primary source of reading for the lower classes in England. The work highlights the social significance of these chap-books, which encompass tales of romance, adventure, morality, and even folklore that reflect the interests and values of ordinary people of that time. The opening of this volume sets the stage for an in-depth exploration of the chap-book phenomenon, detailing its origins, production, and the various themes that dominated these publications. It mentions the role of "Chapmen," or itinerant traders, who would bring these stories to rural communities, filling a gap in the literary landscape of the age. Ashton describes how these chap-books served as the main form of entertainment and education for many, especially in an era before widespread access to newspapers and more refined literature. The introduction also notes the efforts to categorize these works, emphasizing their diversity—from religious to romantic tales—while outlining the lost art of storytelling that is encapsulated in these simple yet captivating narratives. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 70.0 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read. en English literature -- 18th century Chapbooks Chapbooks, English -- History -- 18th century Popular literature -- Great Britain Popular literature -- Great Britain -- History and criticism Books and reading -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century PR Text Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: History - British Browsing: Literature Category: Literature - Other Category: History - British Category: History - Modern (1750+) 781498 2025-06-19T14:21:09.610976 text/html 750261 2024-10-24T17:20:27 text/html 128901784 2025-06-19T14:22:24.359060 application/epub+zip 128752090 2025-06-19T14:21:29.286858 application/epub+zip 358858 2025-06-19T14:21:15.672907 application/epub+zip 128823509 2025-06-19T14:22:55.959891 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 128590232 2025-06-19T14:21:58.995153 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 538924 2022-09-22T07:01:50.155362 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 555624 2023-09-21T07:29:35.734550 text/plain 535867 2024-10-24T17:20:27 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17128 2025-06-19T14:22:56.586918 application/rdf+xml 12902 2025-06-19T14:21:15.906905 image/jpeg 2265 2025-06-19T14:21:15.790861 image/jpeg 114592534 2025-06-19T14:21:12.532853 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog