Excerpt from A History of English Literature In writing this book the author has sought to lay stress on the facts of the history of English literature, rather than on the interpretation of it. The need of the high school pupil would seem to be, first of all, the chief facts, given in a continuous lrnportant movements, so far as is possible, told in terms ot/'n'ien rather than of ideas. Though A certain amount 'of aesthetic comment, implied if not is'tated, is inevitable in any survey of literature which is more than a dictionary of names, the intention of the present writer has been to place the emphasis on men, on what they did, and on how they came to do it - not on what the world thinks of their performance. By such a method the space gained is considerable; there are important facts which cannot be included in a small volume if it is half-full of interpretation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from History of English Literature The plan of abridgment which I have followed has been a simple one. I have in nearly all cases retained the very words of the author, only striking out here a5 01 t(?r's prepa ce. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from A History of English Literature: 600-1900 It appears only reasonable that comparatively late authors should receive their share of recognition, when it is reflected how many pages are commonly sacrificed to the consideration of the numerous writings of the fourteenth or fifteenth century, of familiar reputation but often of slight worth, which may be said in several instances to owe their preservation to chance or some trivial peculiarity in the parchment on which they were inscribed. While giving effect to this feeling, the real value of the literature of olden days has not been neglected, as instanced in those portions of the book which deal with the Age of Chaucer, or the Drama of the Sixteenth Century. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from An Outline History of English Literature The purpose and plan of this little book may easily be gathered from the introductory chapter. Only a few words of preface, therefore, are needed. As I conceive it, a history of English literature, however brief, should still be a history of English literature in fact as well as in name and for a history something more is required than a list of authors and their books, and even than a chrono logically - arranged collection of biographical sketches and critical appreciations. It is true that a nation's literature is made up of the works of individual writers, and that for the ordinary purposes of study these writers may be detached from their surroundings and treated separately. But we cannot get a history of such literature unless and until each one has been put into his place in the sequence of things and considered with reference to that great body of literary production of which his work must now be regarded as a part. A history of English literature, then, must be interested primarily in English literature as a whole. Its chief aim should be to give a clear and systematic account, not of the achievements of successive great writers merely, as such, but of national changes and development. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from History of English Literature, Vol. 1 of 2 Among the last acts of his life were his reading of my ms., and his instructions to his colleague about some alterations or kindly suggestions for the improvement of my text. But almost all the changes my version experienced were practically made by his own hand. In this paternal oversight I have cause for self-congratulation, for not every translator is so fortunate. I also received Professor Ten Brink's authority to make enlargements, extra foot-notes, a new arrangement of the paragraphs, or whatever else I might consider helpful in bring ing the work more closely home to his English and American readers, on whose appreciation he set great value. But I have naturally refrained from making much use of such flattering confidence; any changes or additions are duly noted where they occur. Besides the author's critical revision of my text, many of the proof sheets have been read by experienced students of English Literature, which has frequently resulted in a greater clearness of diction. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from A Short History of English Literature The conundrum of the drama Fading of eighteenth-century tragedy Minor comic writers: the domestic play Goldsmith Sheridan. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.