Readings From English History Classic Reprint

Author : Raymond MacDonald Alden
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781330926406
Total Pages : 744 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (264 download)

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Download or read book Readings in English Prose of the Eighteenth Century (Classic Reprint) written by Raymond MacDonald Alden and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-07-07 with total page 744 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Readings in English Prose of the Eighteenth Century The great Doctor Johnson, in one of the essays reprinted in this volume, condemns the multiplication of books undertaken by those who "have often no other task than to lay two books before them out of which they compile a third, without any new materials of their own." But if it be supposed on this ground that he would frown on the present undertaking, one might plead his own admission that there is an occasional compiler who, "though he exerts no great abilities in the work, facilitates the progress of others" and makes "that easy of attainment which is already written." Here, at any rate, are suggested the origin and purpose of this collection. For some time it has been possible for those studying periods of English literature to find in single volumes fairly representative selections from the poets of the several ages; but to represent prose writings adequately is much more difficult, and those who have met this problem have found it one involving no little trouble and expense. Through the cooperation of the publishers, who have shown themselves ready to undertake the making of a volume sufficiently generous to accomplish for prose what relatively meagre books will do for poetry, it is hoped that the needs of students of eighteenth-century literature have been sufficiently met.If this hope shall be justified by experience, similar volumes may be undertaken for the earlier and later periods. The principles governing the choice of selections may be briefly explained. In the first place, it was thought well to represent the half-dozen (more or less) most important prose writers of the century by fairly generous and complete specimens of their work, approximating some twenty to thirty thousand words each. These selections cover, in the experience of the editor, the assignments of prescribed reading set for one or two weeks, in college courses dealing with the century as a whole. The authors thus largely represented are Defoe, Swift, Steele, Addison, Johnson, Boswell, and Burke. 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.