Letters from the West: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Letters from the West, credited to James Hall, 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 Letters from the West by James Hall. Read in English by Ted Lienhart James Hall was a soldier, lawyer, circuit judge, newspaper editor, historian, and author of fiction. He was also the first publisher of a literary magazine west of Pittsburgh. Hall originally wrote some of the letters in this collection in 1820, while voyaging by keelboat down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Shawneetown, Illinois, where he established a law practice. He appears to have revised the 1820 letters and added more prior to publication in London in 1828. Much more than a description of his travels, the letters include his observations on many subjects, reflecting current affairs and his broad interests. Topics include: Cumberland Road; Internal Improvements in 1820s; Harman Blennerhassett; Burr's Conspiracy; Manners of the People in Old Northwest; General Presby Neville; Cincinnati in 1820s; Arthur St. Clair; Falls of the Ohio; Shawneetown Illinois; Backwoodsmen; Daniel Boone; Harpe Brothers; Regulators; Popular superstitions Ohio River Valley. - Summary by Ted Lienhart

Recording facts

• Recording title: Letters from the West
• Author credits: James Hall
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 23
• Listed recording duration: 7:35:48

Catalogue topics

• description and travel -- ohio river valley
• frontier and pioneer life -- ohio river valley
• american letters
• travelers' writings -- american
• american prose literature -- 19th century
• america -- description and travel -- 19th century
• america -- economic conditions -- 19th century
• middle west -- description and travel

Track guide

1. 00 - Preface — 1:43
2. 01 - Letter I — 17:26
3. 02 - Letter II — 34:39
4. 03 - Letter III — 37:37
5. 04 - Letter IV — 19:44
6. 05 - Letter V — 18:54
7. 06 - Letter VI — 24:46
8. 07 - Letter VII — 12:51
9. 08 - Letter VIII — 12:59
10. 09 - Letter IX — 14:16
11. 10 - Letter X — 10:25
12. 11 - Letter XI — 11:06
13. 12 - Letter XII — 10:10
14. 13 - Letter XIII — 26:30
15. 14 - Letter XIV — 23:26
16. 15 - Letter XV — 16:21
17. 16 - Letter XVI — 19:55
18. 17 - Letter XVII — 20:30
19. 18 - Letter XVIII — 11:56
20. 19 - Letter XIX — 15:04
21. 20 - Letter XX — 23:39
22. 21 - Letter XXI — 24:01
23. 22 - Letter XXII — 47:50

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.