Essays in Biography and Criticism (Classic Reprint)

Download or read book Essays in Biography and Criticism (Classic Reprint) written by Peter Bayne and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2016-09-28 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Essays in Biography and Criticism An apology may be deemed requisite for offering to the public a work, of which even the germ is found in pieces composed at so early an age. Two consid rations chie y weighed with the writer in permitting the publication. He could not let slip the opportunity Offered of bringing together that portion Of his early performances, to which, however sensible of their defects, he could yet deliberately append his signa ture, setting them apart from that far larger portion which he would now altogether cast behind him, as mere confusions Of a too much wasted youth. And still more powerfully was he in uenced by the re ec tion, which has for a long time had a firm hold on his mind, that, where a reading public is so extended as that Of America, capacities Of literary enjoyment, and susceptibilities to instruction, will vary so much, both in kind and degree, that it is by no means easy, if possible, to judge, within certain limits, from the ah stract character Of a book, whether it will or will not prove useless: and that, therefore, an author, abdi cating, in great measure, the right to decide as to the worthiness or unworthiness Of his compositions, ought to bow to the unsought expression of public will. Such an expression seemed to be found in the Offer of American publishers to issue these volumes: and the author screens himself against all attack, by the plain declaration, that they would not now, perhaps would never, have appeared, but for the enterprise and generosity Of Messrs. Gould and lincoln. 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."