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THE VITAL QUALITY IN LITERATURE xi

To Get the Spiritual Essence of a Great Book One Must
Study the Man Who Wrote It--The Man Is the Best
Epitome of His Message.

MACAULAY'S ESSAYS IN EUROPEAN HISTORY 3

Foremost English Essayist--His Style and Learning
Have Made Macaulay a Favorite for Over a Half
Century.

SCOTT AND HIS WAVERLEY NOVELS 11

Greatest Novelist the World Has Known--Made History
Real and Created Characters That Will Never Die.

CARLYLE AS AN INSPIRER OF YOUTH 20

Finest English Prose Writer--His Best Books, _Past
and Present_, _Sartor Resartus_ and the _French
Revolution_.

DE QUINCEY AS A MASTER OF STYLE 30

He Wrote the _Confessions of an English
Opium-Eater_--Dreamed Dreams and Saw Visions and
Pictured Them in Poetic Prose.

CHARLES LAMB AND THE ESSAYS OF ELIA 38

Best Beloved of All the English Writers--Quaintest
and Tenderest Essayist Whose Work Appeals to All
Hearts.

DICKENS, THE FOREMOST OF NOVELISTS 47

More Widely Read Than Any Other Story-Teller--The
Greatest of the Modern Humorists Appeals to the
Readers of All Ages and Classes.

THACKERAY, GREATEST MASTER OF FICTION 56

The Most Accomplished Writer of His Century--Tender
Pathos Under an Affectation of Cynicism and Great Art
in Style and Characters.

CHARLOTTE BRONTE; HER TWO GREAT NOVELS 66

_Jane Eyre_ and _Villette_ are Touched With
Genius--The Tragedy of a Woman's Life That Resulted
in Two Stories of Passionate Revolt Against Fate.

GEORGE ELIOT AND HER TWO GREAT NOVELS 76

_Adam Bede_ and _The Mill on the Floss_--Her Early
Stories Are Rich in Character Sketches, With Much
Humor and Pathos.

RUSKIN, THE APOSTLE OF ART 87

Art Critic and Social Reformer--Best Books Are
_Modern Painters_, _The Seven Lamps_ and _The Stones
of Venice_.

TENNYSON LEADS THE VICTORIAN WRITERS 96

A Poet Who Voiced the Aspirations of His
Age--_Locksley Hall_, _In Memoriam_ and _The Idylls
of the King_ Among His Best Works.

BROWNING, GREATEST POET SINCE SHAKESPEARE