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LIBRARY OF THE
WORLD'S BEST LITERATURE
ANCIENT AND MODERN
VOL. I.
CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER
EDITOR
HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE
LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE
GEORGE HENRY WARNER
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Connoisseur Edition
PREFACE
he plan of this Work is simple, and yet it is novel. In its distinctivefeatures it differs from any compilation that has yetbeen made. Its main purpose is to present to Americanhouseholds a mass of good reading. But it goes much beyond this.For in selecting this reading it draws upon all literatures of all timeand of every race, and thus becomes a conspectus of the thoughtand intellectual evolution of man from the beginning. Another andscarcely less important purpose is the interpretation of this literaturein essays by scholars and authors competent to speak with authority.
The title, "A Library of the World's Best Literature," is strictlydescriptive. It means that what is offered to the reader is taken fromthe best authors, and is fairly representative of the best literatureand of all literatures. It may be important historically, or becauseat one time it expressed the thought and feeling of a nation, orbecause it has the character of universality, or because the readersof to-day will find it instructive, entertaining, or amusing. TheWork aims to suit a great variety of tastes, and thus to commenditself as a household companion for any mood and any hour. Thereis no intention of presenting merely a mass of historical material,however important it is in its place, which is commonly of the sortthat people recommend others to read and do not read themselves.It is not a library of reference only, but a library to be read. Theselections do not represent the partialities and prejudices and cultivationof any one person, or of a group of editors even; but, underthe necessary editorial supervision, the sober judgment of almost asmany minds as have assisted in the preparation of these volumes.By this method, breadth of appreciation has been sought.
The arrangement is not chronological, but alphabetical, under thenames of the authors, and, in some cases, of literatures and specialsubjects. Thus, in each volume a certain variety is secured, theheaviness or sameness of a mass of antique, classical, or mediaevalmaterial is avoided, and the reader obtains a sense of the varietiesand contrasts of different periods. But the work is not an encyclopaedia,or merely a dictionary of authors. Comprehensive informationas to all writers of importance may be included in a supplementaryreference volume; but the attempt to quote from all would destroythe Work for reading purposes, and reduce it to a herbarium ofspecimens.
In order to present a view of the entire literary field, and to makethese volumes especially useful to persons who have not access tolarge libraries, as well as to treat certain literatures or subjects whenthe names of writers are unknown or would have no significance tothe reader, it has been found necessary to make groups of certainnationalities, periods, and special topics. For instance, if the readerwould like to know something of anc