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consequence less understanding of a broad range of literature which referenced classical mythology. Thus his target readership was that of people with no education in Latin or Greek, a growing section of the middle classes in North
America and the United Kingdom at the time, who wished to learn the classics but were hampered by what was termed at the time an "English education". In an age of science, he was not expecting people to "devote study to a species of learning which relates wholly to false marvels of obsolete faiths", but rather he sought to enable people to better comprehend English literature, and his concluding every myth account with the "poetical citations" indicates that it was learning the English literature that was the point rather than learning the classical mythology. This is further indicated by his selection of the mythology, and his preference for things like the
385:
By combining classical learning with modern (19th century) literature, Bulfinch sought to give readers a way to connect such distant information to their contemporary lives, a pedagogical approach that, in contrast with
Bulfinch's later reputation for being a prudish Victorian, was actually advanced
401:
He viewed the fact that in order to learn about the classical mythology, people first had to learn classical languages, which was a stumbling block on the road to learning; and that the era's greater emphasis on learning the sciences meant that there was less time to learn the classics, and as a
207:
he states "Our work is not for the learned, nor for the theologian, nor for the philosopher, but for the reader of
English literature, of either sex, who wishes to comprehend the allusions so frequently made by public speakers, lecturers, essayists, and poets, and those which occur in polite
200:. Bulfinch intersperses the stories with his own commentary, and with quotations from writings by his contemporaries that refer to the story under discussion. This combination of classical elements and modern literature was novel for his time.
352:
as Ovid had it). In general, Bulfinch excludes anything where Ovid is bawdy, and minimizes any violence and grotesquery. Prometheus is platonic rather than wily and cunning as
223:
203:
Bulfinch expressly intended his work for the general reader, and not as a school textbook but as "a classical dictionary for the parlour". In the preface to
856:
Montfort, Bruno (2013). "Thoreau's work on myth: The modern and the primitive". In Specq, François; Walls, Laura Dassow; Granger, Michel (eds.).
176:. Talbot opined that, of the many available, Richard P. Martin's 1991 edition is "by far the most useful and extensive critical treatment".
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in 1863. In contrast, Macmillan published a "simplified" edition in 1942 that omitted all of
Bulfinch's references to literature.
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796:
1176:
1171:
1151:
920:
Talbot, John (2017). "Bulfinch and Graves: Modern mythography as literary reception". In Zajko, Vanda; Hoyle, Helena (eds.).
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Bulfinch added to the stories what he termed "poetical citations", drawn from the works of 40 poets (all bar three of which,
1045:
997:
978:
961:
Hawkins, Aileen; Poe, Alison (2018). "Narcissus in children's contexts: didacticism and scopophilia?". In
Hodkinson, Owen;
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910:
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340:, twice as long as Bulfinch's; from which the latter omits several subplots, condenses Ovid's fragmentary account of
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The tales are structured to flow better than a straightforward encyclopaedic or dictionary treatment of them would:
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concurring) that it was "one of the most popular books ever published in the United States and the standard work on
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232:
228:
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published in 1863. Bulfinch's original three volumes were posthumously combined into a single volume by
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456:
364:
367:, were British). These were illustrations of the use of the mythological tales in English literature.
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did actually displace earlier, and more comprehensive, school textbooks in the United States such as
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following the classical myths. There are additional chapters on "Eastern" and "Northern" mythology,
1156:
344:, and excludes or alters all of Ovid's sexual references (e.g. Proserpine tucking flowers into her
143:
1073:
Cleary, Marie S. (1980). "A Book of 'Decided
Usefulness': Thomas Bulfinch's 'The Age of Fable'".
248:
124:
is a collection of tales from myth and legend rewritten for a general readership by the
American
1058:(1985). "Achilles' Name among the Maidens and Deeper Questions: Looking It Up in the Classics".
398:
pleasure, a "useful knowledge" that in turn would enhance the pleasure in reading other works.
165:
1075:
970:
992:. Bibliographies and indexes in world literature. Vol. 40. Greenwood Publishing Group.
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318:
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as an "abridged, bowdlerized, and rearranged Ovid", a description that was also applied by
8:
1036:——— (2019). "Introduction to the new edition". In Hanks, Robert (ed.).
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778:
The Golden Age of the
Classics in America: Greece, Rome, and the Antebellum United States
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Classical
Reception and Children's Literature: Greece, Rome and Childhood Transformation
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Children's Books on
Ancient Greek and Roman Mythology: An Annotated Bibliography
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924:. Wiley Blackwell Handbooks to Classical Reception. John Wiley & Sons.
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Thoreauvian Modernities: Transatlantic Conversations on an American Icon
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1083:(3). The Classical Association of the Middle West and South: 248–49.
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being used as a common character, for example, to link the tales of
309:. Some structural differences from Ovid include the combination of
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1138:—a complete scan of the 1874 edition, browseable and downloadable.
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Bulfinch himself published the "poetical citations" standalone as
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905:. Oxford History of the United States. Oxford University Press.
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1027:(1991). "Introduction and notes". In Martin, Richard P. (ed.).
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275:, mainly in much the same arrangement including the story of
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Bulfinch originally published his work as three volumes:
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associate and classics teacher Marie S. Cleary described
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Popular 1867 book on Greek, Roman, and medieval mythology
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420:) rather than any Classical poet's version of the tale.
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pleasure, Bulfinch sought to offer a means of learning
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for nearly a century", until the release of classicist
843:——— (1987). "Bulfinch's Mythology".
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533:
531:
529:
492:
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438:
Legends of Charlemagne, or Romance of the Middle Ages,
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for its time and only later to be seen in the work of
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in November 2014 there were 229 print editions and 19
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Brazouski, Antoinette; Klatt, Mary J., eds. (1994).
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265:in 1985. Most of the material in it was drawn from
922:A Handbook to the Reception of Classical Mythology
851:(1). National Endowment for the Humanities: 12–5.
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1038:Bulfinch's Mythology: Stories of Gods and Heroes
160:. By 1987, there were more than 100 editions of
430:The Age of Fable, or Stories of Gods and Heroes
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874:
759:
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434:The Age of Chivalry, or Legends of King Arthur
259:in his overview of mythographic literature in
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157:Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
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188:and stories from three eras: Greek and
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328:As an example of the abridgment and
881:A Handbook to the Reception of Ovid
13:
1016:
942:(2004). Scott, J. Loughran (ed.).
363:, Lowell, and Bullfinch's brother
336:in the Underworld is, at over 300
208:conversation." Despite this, the
184:The book is a prose recounting of
14:
1188:
1097:
444:in 1881, who gave them the title
332:, Ovid's telling of the story of
1167:Lothrop, Lee & Shepard books
903:The World of Myth: An Anthology
860:. University of Georgia Press.
768:
739:
451:Some, but not all, editions of
142:comments (with John Talbot of
136:for English-speaking readers.
1:
1162:References on Greek mythology
469:
1177:Works subject to expurgation
1172:Works based on Metamorphoses
1152:Books published posthumously
780:. Harvard University Press.
222:, an English translation of
7:
801:as a pedagogical prototype"
179:
10:
1193:
1040:. Knickerbocker Classics.
1031:. New York: HarperCollins.
760:Brazouski & Klatt 1994
647:Miller & Newlands 2014
635:Miller & Newlands 2014
464:Poetry of the Age of Fable
457:Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
883:. John Wiley & Sons.
795:Cleary, Marie S. (1985).
776:Richard, Carl J. (2009).
436:, published in 1858; and
305:, and some material from
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101:
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71:
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34:
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1105:Bulfinch's Mythology
747:Guide to Reference Books
144:Brigham Young University
946:. Biblo & Tannen.
797:"Miscuit utile dulci:
521:Hawkins & Poe 2018
166:National Union Catalog
1076:The Classical Journal
971:Bloomsbury Publishing
432:, published in 1855;
348:rather than into her
168:, and in a survey of
20:Bulfinch's Mythology
1119:Bulfinch's Mythology
1029:Bulfinch's Mythology
899:Adams Leeming, David
799:Bulfinch's Mythology
692:, pp. 593, 595.
446:Bulfinch's Mythology
162:Bulfinch's Mythology
121:Bulfinch's Mythology
877:Newlands, Carole E.
442:Edward Everett Hale
424:Publication history
148:classical mythology
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455:were dedicated to
325:instead of Niobe.
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1124:Project Gutenberg
875:Miller, John F.;
365:Stephen Greenleaf
281:Apollo and Daphne
243:Pantheum Mysticum
198:medieval romances
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102:Publication place
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57:Arthurian legends
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620:Cleary 1987
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555:Cleary 1985
538:Talbot 2017
509:Cleary 1987
497:Talbot 2017
406:version of
262:Yale Review
257:Victor Bers
241:1659 Latin
227: [
194:King Arthur
128:and banker
65:Charlemagne
1146:Categories
845:Humanities
835:2015-08-19
470:References
388:John Dewey
361:Longfellow
338:hexameters
334:Proserpine
293:Pythagoras
277:Prometheus
170:amazon.com
61:Mabinogeon
1068:: 368–77.
1008:0742-6801
356:had him.
210:Mythology
82:Publisher
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965:(eds.).
417:Endymion
342:Arethusa
319:Callisto
297:Apuleius
219:Pantheon
216:'s 1698
180:Contents
154:'s 1942
126:Latinist
35:Language
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825:4349766
408:Glaucus
380:Theseus
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372:Ariadne
323:Actaeon
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311:Latona
307:Virgil
291:, and
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1085:JSTOR
821:JSTOR
404:Keats
350:bosom
346:apron
313:with
289:Niobe
239:]
186:myths
113:print
72:Genre
1042:ISBN
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