MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. TORONTO OF ENGLISH LITERATURE BY STEPHEN GWYNN, M.P. REVISED EDITION MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED Sanyay PREFACE. SOME explanation is needed to account for the appearance of this book, in a period which sets so much value on specialised study. The writer would justify it by the view, first, that in English literature there are certain authors who may be classed as obligatory-concerning whom total ignorance is a defect which one should blush for; and secondly, that the ordinary reader has neither the time nor inclination to study all these authors at first hand. An attempt has therefore been made to put together a survey of the literature which should concern itself only with such authors as can be deemed in this manner essential; with the hope that it might usefully supplement the necessarily partial knowledge possessed by young or busy people, and perhaps serve as a guide to those who wish to extend their reading. The main criterion which has regulated the selection of names is public fame. Without wishing to assert that Crabbe is a better poet than Campion, or Gray than Webster, it may be stated emphatically that no educated man in the Englishspeaking world can afford to profess entire ignor 3565 421 |