The Alfred Jewel: An Historical Essay

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Earle, John, 1824-1903

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"The Alfred Jewel: An Historical Essay" by John Earle is a historical account written in the late 19th century. The work centers around the Alfred Jewel, an ornate piece with historical significance that is directly linked to Alfred of Wessex, a notable king in Anglo-Saxon Britain. The essay aims to explore the jewel's craftsmanship, historical context, and its relation to Alfred himself as well as the cultural implications of its design and inscriptions. The opening of the essay introduces readers to the Alfred Jewel, detailing its discovery, physical description, and notable features such as its delicate craftsmanship and the Latin inscription identifying Alfred as the one who ordered its creation. John Earle expresses a personal journey of inquiry that led to the crafting of this essay, explaining how his fascination with the jewel evolved into an academic endeavor. He provides a foundation for discussing the jewel's significance by outlining its design, purpose, and the various speculations surrounding its meaning in relation to Alfred's legacy. Earle emphasizes the jewel as a starting point for a deeper examination of Anglo-Saxon art, society, and history, suggesting that further investigation could illuminate more about its role and representation in that era. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by MWS, Robert Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)

Notes:

Reading ease score: 62.8 (8th & 9th grade). Neither easy nor difficult to read.

Release date is 2019-04-27