CHAMBERS'S 



CYCLOPAEDIA OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 



A. SELECTION OF THE CHOICEST PRODUCTIONS OF ENGLISH AUTHORS, FROM THB 



EARLIEST TO THE PRESENT TIME: CONNECTED BY A CRITICAL 



AND BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY. 



EDITED BY ROBERT CHAMBERS. 



ASSISTED BY ROHERT CARRUTHERS AM) OTHER EMINENT GENTLEMEN. 



Complete in tico imperial octavo volumes, of more than fourteen 



hundred patjcs of double column letterpress, and iqncards of 



three hundred clajant illustrations. 



This valuable work has now become so generally known and appreciated, that there need 

 scarcely be any thing said in commendation, except to those who have not yet seen it. 



The icork embraces about One Thousand Authors, chronologically arranged and classed 

 as Poets, Historians, Dramatist, Philosophers, Metaphysicians, Divines, etc., with choice 

 selections/ram their writings, connected bij a Biographical, Historical, and Critical JVarra- 

 tire ; thus presenting a complete view of English Literature, from the earlicstto the present 

 tine. Let the reader open where he will, he cannot fail to find matter for profit and delight, 

 which, for the most part, too, repeated perusals will only serve to make him enjoy the more. 

 We have iiidetd infinite riches in a little room. J\"o one, who has a taste fur literature, 

 should allow himself, for a trifling consideration, to be without a work which throws so 

 much light upon the progress of the English language. The selections are gems a mass 

 of valuable information in a condensed and elegant form. 



EXTRACTS FROM COMMENDATORY NOTICES. 



From W. H. Prescott, Author of " Ferdinand and Isabella." "The plan of the work 

 is very judicious. * * It will put the render in the proper point of view, for survey- 

 ing thf whole ground over which he is travelling. * * Such readers cannot fail to 

 iront hugely by the labors of the critic who bus the talent and taste to separate what 

 is really beautiful and worthy of their study from what is superfluous." 



" I concur in the foregoing opinion of Mr. Prescott." Edward Everett. 



" It will be a useful and popular work, indispensable to the library of a student of 

 English literature." Francis IVayland. 



'We hail with peculiar pleasure the appearance of this work, and more especially 

 its republication in this country at a price which places it within the reach of a great 

 number of readers." North American Review. 



" This is the most valuable and magnificent contribution to a sound popular litera- 

 ture that this century has brought forth. It fills a place which was before a blank. 

 Without it, English literature, to almost all of our countrymen, educated or unedu- 

 cated, is an imperfect, broken, disjointed mass. Much that is beautiful the most 

 perfect and graceful portions, undoubtedly was already possessed ; but it was not 

 a whole. Every intelligent man, every inquiring mind, every scholar, felt that the 

 foundation was missing. Chambers's Cyclopaedia supplies this radical defect. It he- 

 gins with the beginning ; and, step by step, gives to every one who has the intellect or 

 taste to enjoy it a view of English literature in all its complete, beautiful, and perfect 

 proportions." Onondaga Democrat, JV. Y. 



" \Ve hope that teachers will avail themselves of an early opportunity to obtain a 

 work so well calculated to impart useful knowledge, with the pleasures and ornaments 

 of the English classics. The work will undoubtedly find a place in our district and 

 other public libraries; yet it should be the ' vade mecum ' of every scholar." 

 Teachers' rfdcncatr, Syracuse, JV*. Y. 



" The work is finely conceived to meet a popular want, is full of literary instruction, 

 and is variously embellished with engravings illustrative of English antiquities, his- 

 torv, and biography. Tte typography throughout is beautiful." Christian. Reflector, 

 Boston. 



" The design has been well exr-cutr-d by the selection and concentration of some of 

 the best productions of English intellect, from the earliest Anglo-Saxon writers down 

 to those of the present day. A'o one can give u glance at the work without being 

 struck with its beauty and cheapness." Boston Courier. 



" We should be glad if any tiling we can say v.ould f.ivor this design. The elegance 

 of the execution feasts tiie eye with beauty, and th;- whole is suited to refine and ele- 

 vate the t iste. And we minht ask, who can f ail to go back to its beginning, and trace 

 his mother-tongue from its rude infancy to its present maturity, elegance, and richness ? " 

 Christian Jftrror, Port/am/. 



*.* Tlie P;ililishers of the AMERICAN Edition of this valuable work desire to stMe that, besidrs the 

 niini' r ''iuns in ;h- English E liiion, tliy have greatly enriched the work by the addition 



of fine steel and m< / ivinirs nt' th-- li'-a>U ul s \-t son, -Byron ; a lull K-nglli portrait 



of Dr. Johnson, and a l> ami! . auiiun ul Oliver Cii'l 'siaiih and Dr. Johnson. These impor- 



tant and elegant ;uMkions, together with superior paper and binding, must give thia a decided pretereuca 

 over all oilier editions. 



GOULD, KENDALL, & LINCOLN, PT-BLISHERS, BOSTON. 



