Opening of the book
HALLECKS'S NEW ENGLISH LITERATURE
by REUBEN POST HALLECK, M.A., LL.D.
Author of "History of English Literature" and "History of American
Literature"
PREFACE
In this New English Literature the author endeavors to preserve the qualities that have caused his former History of English Literature to be so widely used; namely, suggestiveness, clearness, organic unity, interest, and the power to awaken thought and to stimulate the student to further reading.
The book furnishes a concise account of the history and growth of
English literature from the earliest times to the present day. It lays special emphasis on literary movements, on the essential qualities that differentiate one period from another, and on the spirit that animates each age. Above all, the constant purpose has been to arouse in the student an enthusiastic desire to read the works of the authors discussed. Because of the author's belief in the guide-book function of a history of literature, he has spent much time and thought in preparing the unusually detailed Suggested Readings that follow each chapter.
It was necessary for several reasons to prepare a new book.
Twentieth century research has transformed the knowledge of the
Elizabethan theater and has brought to light important new facts relating to the drama and to Shakespeare. The new social spirit has changed the critical viewpoint concerning authors as different as
Wordsworth, Keats, Ruskin, Dickens, and Tennyson. Wordsworth's treatment of childhood, for instance, now requires an amount of space that would a short time ago have seemed disproportionate. Later
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