Pagina-afbeeldingen
PDF
ePub

THE ENGLISH NOVEL BEFORE

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

EXCERPTS

FROM REPRESENTATIVE TYPES

SELECTED BY

ANNETTE BROWN HOPKINS, PH.D.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN GOUCHER COLLEGE

HELEN SARD HUGHES, PH.D.

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN WELLESLEY COLLEGE

[merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

PREFACE

An increasing tendency to recognize fiction as an apt vehicle for instruction in literary method and literary history is leading many schools and colleges to introduce courses in the history and technique of the novel. Study of this sort naturally involves discussion of the beginnings of the novel in earlier forms of narrative such as appeared before and during the sixteenth century, of its gradual rise through the next century and a half, and of its rapid decline during the last decades of the eighteenth century. Important as is this formative period in the history of the novel, it is liable in the average course to suffer from inadequate treatment because of the difficulty involved in obtaining and presenting the material.

It is to meet this difficulty that the present book of selections has been planned. The intention has been not to present whole books in condensed form, such a task in a volume of this character being obviously impossible; but to offer from pre-nineteenth-century novels vivid and interesting excerpts which should illustrate definite technical and historical features in the development of the novel, and prove of sufficient length to give an idea of the general character of a book without thwarting the student's desire to read the book as a whole.

In order that the selections may be intelligible to the student, explanatory footnotes and connecting links in the form of summaries have been supplied wherever it has seemed necessary. But the editors, feeling that many text-books err in giving too much critical assistance, have purposely refrained from including any critical material on the novel except what may be found in the brief historical notes forming the introduction. Sufficient aid of this nature, they hope, will be supplied by the bibliography. The book is to illustrate, not to expound. It undertakes to represent various species of the novel: the romantic, the psycho

logical, the didactic, the picaresque, etc.; and in these selections to show the skill of respective novelists in the handling of plot, character, scene, incident, and purpose sufficiently to enable teacher and student to find the book of practical value in the class-room.

Care has been taken to secure accurate texts of the novels selected by comparing them with the most trustworthy editions accessible, but neither space nor expediency has permitted discussion of variant readings. Care has been taken, also, to ascertain exact dates of publication for these novels, though in some cases, such as "Oroonoko" and the first volumes of "Tristram Shandy" wide difference of opinion has made it difficult to reach a satisfactory decision. Where dates could not be determined from a more accurate source, "The Dictionary of National Biography" has been followed.

The introduction is not intended as an epitomized history of English fiction, but simply as a convenient guide to be used in connection with the excerpts in placing them historically and in showing what they illustrate technically.

In regard to the particular excerpts made, it may be said that the editors, while realizing the place in the growth of the novel of such contributary forms as the tale in all periods, the character-writing and epistolary narratives of the seventeenth, and the narrative essays of the eighteenth, century, felt that to increase the illustration with such material would be to exceed the limits of a single volume; therefore it seemed wiser to keep to the main channel of development.

Again, it has seemed unnecessary to extend the period of representation into the nineteenth century, because the more modern novels are usually obtainable in the average library, they are published in cheap editions, and they are of such a nature as to be profitably read in their entirety.

Finally, we wish to acknowledge gratefully the counsel and assistance of Professor John M. Manly in solving problems of obscure chronology.

A. B. H.,

H. S. H.

« VorigeDoorgaan »