Author
Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford Redesdale
1837-1916
Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford Redesdale (1837-1916) is a public-domain author available on Rivro. Read free books, explore subjects, and discover related classics.
WikipediaSubjects
Books by Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford Redesdale
Tales of Old Japan
"Tales of Old Japan" by Baron Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford Redesdale is an anthology published in 1871. This collection presents short stories and firsthand accounts that illuminate Japanese life before the Meiji Restoration. The work blends adapted tales from Japanese sources—including stories of revenge, supernatural creatures, and folk wisdom—with the author's eyewitness observations of traditional ceremonies. From the legendary forty-seven ronins to shape-shifting foxes and grateful cats, these narratives offer Western readers an introduction to Japanese literature, culture, and ritual practices.
Memories (volume 2 of 2)
"Memories (volume 2 of 2)" by Baron Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford Redesdale is a memoir written in the early 20th century. It presents an eyewitness account of diplomatic life and travel, especially in Japan during the fall of the shogunate and the rise of imperial government, alongside later episodes from the author’s public career. Expect energetic on-the-ground narratives—journeys, negotiations, and close shaves—featuring figures like Sir Harry Parkes, Ernest Satow, and future leaders such as Ito and Gotō. The opening of this memoir follows the author on a perilous overland mission with Ernest Satow from the west coast into Kaga, where hospitality gives way to hostility in Echizen and a planned ambush near Ōtsu is narrowly avoided by a last-minute detour via Uji. Back in Ōsaka, the murder of two British sailors heightens tensions as the author meets Gotō Shōjirō and accompanies official visits that mix diplomacy with theatricals, then returns to Yedo to face nighttime intruders and the everyday violence of late-Tokugawa streets. Reassigned to prepare the opening of Ōsaka and Hiōgo, he witnesses mass religious festivities, the ex-Shōgun’s dispirited withdrawal to Ōsaka, and an audacious storm-bound dash at sea with Admiral Keppel and Captain Stanhope. Civil war breaks out around Fushimi; Ōsaka Castle burns, the Legation evacuates, and the author rides his mounted escort to safety through hostile country. At Kōbé, Bizen troops fire on foreign officials, leading to swift reprisals and the ritual suicide of their commander, followed by an Imperial proclamation declaring direct rule and the replacement of “Tycoon” with “Emperor.” Finally, sent with Dr. Willis to Kiōto to treat the ailing ex-prince Yōdo of Tosa, he gains a first look inside the sacred city—just as news arrives of the Sakai massacre of French sailors and severe French demands, leaving him uncomfortably placed amid Tosa power.
The attaché at Peking
"The Attaché at Peking" by A.B. Freeman-Mitford is a historical account written in the late 19th century. The work comprises a series of letters reflecting on the author’s experiences and observations while living in China, particularly in Peking, during a time of significant political and social tension. It provides insights into Chinese customs, the complexities of foreign relations, and the precarious position of Europeans in a country rife with contradictions. The opening of the book establishes the author’s perspective on the slow-changing nature of Chinese society and explains the context of the letters, which were written during a time when foreign powers occupied a sensitive position in China. Freeman-Mitford discusses the contrasts between China and Japan in terms of modernization and historical stability, emphasizing the deep-seated cultural pride of the Chinese in their ancient civilization. He captures the atmosphere of tension and underlying threats in Peking, reflecting on both his personal experiences there and the broader implications of foreign presence in a country facing insurrections and societal upheaval.
Memories (volume 1 of 2)
"Memories (volume 1 of 2)" by Baron Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford Redesdale is a memoir written in the early 20th century. It offers an aristocratic life-story that mixes deep family genealogy with firsthand sketches of people, places, and public events, from a Northumbrian cradle to courts, embassies, and salons at home and abroad. The opening of the book sets out the author’s aim to preserve private, character-revealing details about notable figures, and acknowledges help from contemporaries in verifying episodes (notably in Japan). It then ranges widely through his ancestry: the Mitford and Ashburnham lines, the Norman Bertram connection, the ruins and border wars around Mitford Castle, and the legend of the Hermit of Warkworth, before tracking forward to William Mitford the historian, John (1st Lord Redesdale) as Irish Lord Chancellor and his controversies, and the 2nd Lord Redesdale’s long parliamentary career. The narrative shifts to Batsford and family ties with the Ashburnhams, peppered with vivid anecdotes (a royal relic of Charles I, a Garter bestowed by George IV, musical and artistic circles in Florence). It then moves to the author’s own early years: birth, a stint at Exbury, childhood in Paris (Tuileries gardens, glimpses of Louis-Philippe, court gossip, émigré survivors’ stories, the old Morgue, bustling fairs), and formative summers at Trouville—local characters like the devoted Marie Letac, a theatrical quack dentist, and the seaside’s transformation into a chic resort under Dumas’s patronage.
Further memories
"Further memories" by Baron Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford Redesdale is a collection of autobiographical essays and cultural reminiscences written in the early 20th century. It likely ranges across travel, art, religion, history, and gardening, using the author’s Cotswold garden and his love of Eastern art as a lens for wider reflections. Expect a blend of personal memory and learned digressions—from Buddhist lore to European culture—presented in a conversational, erudite tone. The opening of this volume first presents Edmund Gosse’s introduction, which sketches the author’s late-blooming literary career, his cherished Batsford garden, the genesis of a planned essay-sequence called Veluvana, and the circumstances of his final years during wartime, culminating in his death. The text then shifts to the author’s own “Veluvana,” setting him in a bamboo-grove retreat where he denies having a Japanese-style garden, carefully describes its Eastern sculptures and curios, and uses them to launch vivid retellings of Buddhist legends—the Veluvana and Jétavana groves, the Buddha’s birth, renunciation, awakening, first sermon, and moral parables (Jātakas), even noting the medieval Christian echo in Barlaam and Josaphat. At the start of the next essay he contrasts Buddha’s serene revolt with violent revolutions, likens his renunciation to St. Francis, and critiques Brahmanism’s caste system, explaining its origins, terms, and evolution while highlighting Buddhism’s challenge to priestly authority. This opening section closes as he begins to cite comparative figures for the world’s religions to underscore Buddhism’s reach.