Overview

Excerpt from The New Princeton Review, Vol. 6: 1888, July September November We must, therefore, prepare ourselves, on approaching the year 1700, to find the history of English literature no longer identical with the history of English thought. There has recently been developed a tendency to go in the opposite direction, and instead of narrowing the field of study to enlarge it. It has been proposed to combine with an examination of English literature a survey of con temporary history and politics, science and learning, theology and speculation. Such a curriculum is fit only for an archangel, dowered with eyes that run thro' all the heavens, and with a memory and a comprehension beyond a mortal span. No doubt a direct benefit in the study of any one province of knowledge is gained by a correct superficial acquaintance with all that is contiguous to it but common sense and experience unite to show that, with the increase of facts and the minute subdivision of science, the field of any one particular study, to remain exact, must be rigidly narrowed. It is, therefore, I think, useful for the student of English literature, on reaching the eighteenth century, to make up his mind to the acceptance of a formula less extended than he has hitherto brought with him down from the Renaissance. He will so contract his field of study as to embrace only what may be contained within the denomination of belles-lettres in its widest sense, to the exclusion of whatever is purely technical or occasional. 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.

Full Product Details

9781331381983

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available