Castle Rackrent: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Castle Rackrent, credited to Maria Edgeworth, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth. Read in English by NoelBadrian "One of the most inspired chronicles written in English" was the verdict of William Butler Yeats on the novel Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth which was first published in 1800. It is recognised as the first true historical novel in English as well as the first Big-House novel. Written at the time when there was much debate about the Act of Union which proposed to unite Great Britain with Ireland, the book satirised the mismanagement of their Irish estates by Anglo-Irish landlords. Maria Edgeworth's writing is wonderful - informative, entertaining and amusing by turns. Just before publication, extensive footnotes, a glossary and a preface were added, to counteract any negative impact that the Edgeworth family feared it might have on The Act of Union. This 1895 Edition includes a wonderful Introduction by Anne Thackeray Ritchie. The novel is set in early 1780's Ireland and is narrated by Honest Thady, loyal steward to generations of the Rackrent family. These are: The generous Sir Patrick, the tight fisted Sir Murtagh (married into the Skinflint family), the cruel Sir Kit who locked his wealthy wife up in her room for seven years and the amiable spendthrift Sir Condy, who has no head for business and a fondness for whisky punch. Together, they have run the estate into debt and disaster. Jason Quirk, Thady's astute son sorts everything out in the end to his satisfaction but much to Thady's dismay. - Summary by Noel Badrian

Recording facts

• Recording title: Castle Rackrent
• Author credits: Maria Edgeworth
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 14
• Listed recording duration: 5:07:00

Catalogue topics

• Ireland
• social life and customs
• anglo-irish
• landlord and tenant

Track guide

1. 01 - Introduction - Part 1 — 22:19
2. 02 - Introduction - Part 2 — 18:17
3. 03 - Introduction - Part 3 — 23:48
4. 04 - Author's Preface and Notes — 14:19
5. 05 - Chapter 1 - Part 1 — 24:59
6. 06 - Chapter 1 - Part 2 — 16:28
7. 07 - Chapter 1 - Part 3 — 22:30
8. 08 - Chapter 1 - Glossary — 28:12
9. 09 - Chapter 2 - Part 1 — 22:03
10. 10 - Chapter 2 - Part 2 — 21:26
11. 11 - Chapter 2 - Part 3 — 22:01
12. 12 - Chapter 2 - Part 4 — 26:32
13. 13 - Chapter 2 - Part 5 — 27:30
14. 14 - Chapter 2 - Glossary — 16:36

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.