THE NEWOXFORD BOOK OF

ENGLISHPROSE

Edited by

JOHN GROSS

Oxford New York

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

1998

Contents

Introduction • xxxv

THE NEW OXFORD BOOK OF ENGLISH PROSE

SIR THOMAS MALORY 3

Morte Darthur

WILLIAM CAXTON 6The Game and Play of the Chess • Proem to The Canterbury Tales

JOHN BOURCHIER, LORD BERNERS 7Froissart's Chronicles

JOHN FISHER, BISHOP OF ROCHESTER 9The Ways to Perfect Religion

SIR THOMAS MORE 10Utopia • The History of King Richard III

THOMAS CRANMER, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY 13An Homily of Good Works

SIR THOMAS ELYOT 14The Book named the Governor

HUGH LATIMER l6'The Sermon of the Plough'

WILLIAM TYNDALE VJTranslation of the Pentateuch: Prologue to Leviticus

THE ENGLISH BIBLE: I l8Genesis 3:1-19

THE ENGLISH BIBLE: II 19i Corinthians 13: 4-13

WILLIAM ROPER 21The Life of Sir Thomas More

GEORGE CAVENDISH 21Thomas Wolsey, late Cardinal, his Life and Death

SIMON FISH 22A Supplication for the Beggars

VI CONTENTS

THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER 23

The First Prayer Book of Edward VI

ROGER ASCHAM 24

Toxophilus • The Schoolmaster

RAPHAEL HOLINSHED TJ

Chronicles

SIR THOMAS CHALONER 28

Erasmus' The Praise of Folly

JOHN STOW 28

A Survey of London

QUEEN ELIZABETH I 30

Speech to the Troops at Tilbury

SIR THOMAS NORTH 31

Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans

ROBERT PARSONS 34

The Christian Directory

RICHARD KNOLLES 34

The General History of the Turks

EDMUND SPENSER 35

A View of the Present State of Ireland

SIR WALTER RALEIGH 36

The Fight about the Isles of Azores • The Discovery of Guiana •The History of the World

RICHARD HAKLUYT 39

Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffics and Discoveries

JOHN FLORIO 39

The Essays of Michael Lord of Montaigne

JOHN LYLY 40

Euphues and His England

STEPHEN GOSSON 41

The School of Abuse

SIR PHILIP SIDNEY 42

Arcadia • The Defence of Poesy

RICHARD HOOKER , 45

Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity

FULKE GREVILLE, LORD BROOKE 47

The Life of Sir Philip Sidney

CONTENTS Vll

NICHOLAS BRETON 48Fantasticks

ROBERT GREENE 49A Quip for an Upstart Courtier • Greene's Groats-worth of Wit

THOMAS LODGE 50Rosalynde

SIR RANULPH CREWE 51Oxford peerage case

THOMAS HARIOT 51The New-found Land of Virginia

FRANCIS BACON, VISCOUNT ST ALBANS 52'The Student's Prayer' • The Advancement of Learning •'Of Truth' • 'Of Parents and Children' • New Atlantis

SAMUEL DANIEL 55A Defence of Rhyme

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 56A Midsummer Night's Dream • 1 Henry IV • Henry V •As You Like It • Hamlet • All's Well That Ends Well •King Lear • Coriolanus

THOMAS CAMPION 60Observations in the Art of English Poesy

THOMAS NASHE 6lPierce Penniless • The Terrors of the Night • Christ's Tears overJerusalem • The Unfortunate Traveller • Nashe's Lenten Stuff

THOMAS DEKKER 64The Seven Deadly Sins of London • The Gull's Hornbook

THE ENGLISH BIBLE: III 65Genesis 32: 22-30 • 2 Samuel 1: 23-7 • Job 39:19-25 •Proverbs 7: 6-18 • Ecclesiastes 11: 9-10,12:1-7 •Song of Solomon 8: 6-7 • Isaiah 40:1-8 • Isaiah 52: 7-8 •Matthew 6: 25-9 • Luke 2: 25-32 • Acts 17: 22-34

JOHN DONNE 70Sermons • Devotions upon Emergent Occasions

BEN JONSON 74

Timber, or Discoveries

SAMUEL PURCHAS 76Purchas His Pilgrimage

ROBERT BURTON 76The Anatomy of Melancholy

Vlll CONTENTS

THOMAS CORYATE 80Coryats Crudities

JOHN SMITH 8lThe General History of Virginia

SIR THOMAS OVERBURY 82Characters

JOHN SELDEN 83Table-Talk

WILLIAM DRUMMOND OF HAWTHORNDEN 84The Cypress Grove

THOMAS HOBBES 84Human Nature • Leviathan

JOHN WINTHROP 87'A Model of Christian Charity'

WILLIAM BRADFORD 88Of Plymouth Plantation

IZAAK WALTON 90The Life of Dr John Donne • The Compleat Angler •The Life of Mr George Herbert

JOHN EARLE 93Microcosmography

OWEN FELLTHAM 94Resolves • A Brief Character of the Low Countries

SIR THOMAS BROWNE 96Religio Medici • Pseudodoxia Epidemica • Urn-Burial •The Garden of Cyrus • Christian Morals

BULSTRODE WHITELOCKE 100Journal of the Swedish Embassy

JOHN MILTON 102Of Reformation in England • Animadversions upon the Remonstrant'sDefence • The Reason of Church Government • Areopagitica •The History of Britain • The Ready and Easy Way to Establisha Free Commonwealth

THOMAS FULLER ~ ,, 107The Church History of Britain • The Worthies of England

EDWARD HYDE, EARL OF CLARENDON 110The Life of Edward, Earl of Clarendon • History of the Rebellion

C O N T E N T S IX

GERRARD WINSTANLEY 113

The True Levellers' Standard Advanced

ANNE BRADSTREET 114Meditations Divine and Moral

JEREMY TAYLOR 115Holy Living • Holy Dying • sermons • letter • Ductor Dubitantium •Righteousness Evangelical'-

SIR CHRISTOPHER GUISE Il8Memoirs of the Family of Guise

ABRAHAM COWLEY 119'The Dangers of an Honest Man in Much Company'

JOHN EVELYN 119Sylva • Diary

LUCY HUTCHINSON 121Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinson

JOHN TILLOTSON, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY 122Sermons

GEORGE FOX 124Journal

MARGARET CAVENDISH, DUCHESS OF NEWCASTLE 124A True Relation of My Birth, Breeding and Life

JOHN AUBREY 126Brief Lives

ROBERT BOYLE 130The Usefulness of Experimental Natural Philosophy •manuscript notes • A Free Inquiry into the Vulgarly ReceivedNotions of Nature

DOROTHY OSBORNE 131Letters

JOHN BUNYAN 133Grace Abounding • The Pilgrim's Progress • The Holy War •The Pilgrim's Progress, Part II

SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE 137'Of Poetry'

JOHN DRYDEN 138An Essay of Dramatic Poesy • The Original and Progress of Satire •Preface to the Fables

JOHN LOCKE 140An Essay Concerning Human Understanding • Some ThoughtsConcerning Education • Of the Conduct of the Understanding

X CONTENTS

SAMUEL PEPYS 143Diary

GEORGE SAVILE, MARQUESS OF HALIFAX 147The Character of a Trimmer • A Character of Charles the Second •A Rough Draft of a New Model at Sea • Some Cautions Offered

ROBERT SOUTH , 150Sermons

THOMAS BURNET 151A Sacred Theory of the Earth

THOMAS SPRAT, BISHOP OF ROCHESTER 152The History of the Royal Society

THOMAS TRAHERNE 153Centuries of Meditation

APHRA BEHN 155Preface to The Dutch Lover • The Fair Jilt • Oroonoko

WILLIAM PENN 157No Cross, No Crown

ROGER NORTH 157Autobiography

DANIEL DEFOE I58Robinson Crusoe • Serious Reflections During the Lifeof Robinson Crusoe • A Journal of the Plague Year •Moll Flanders • A Tour through the Whole Island of Great Britain

COTTON MATHER 163Magnalia Christi Americana • Manuductio ad Ministerium

MARY ASTELL 164Some Reflections upon Marriage

SARAH KEMBLE KNIGHT 165A Journey from Boston to New York

JONATHAN SWIFT 166A Tale of a Tub • An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity •A Short Character of His Excellency, Thomas Earl ofWharton •Journal to Stella • from The Examiner • Gulliver's Travels •A Modest Proposal • Polite Conversation

WILLIAM CONGREVE - 173Incognita

BERNARD MANDEVILLE 174The Fable of the Bees

CONTENTS XI

ANTHONY ASHLEY COOPER, EARL OF SHAFTESBURY 175

Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions and Times

COLLEY CIBBER 175An Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber

SIR RICHARD STEELE 177from The Tatler and The Guardian

JOSEPH ADDISON 178from The Tatler and The Spectator

WILLIAM BYRD l8lThe Secret Diary of William Byrd ofWestover

HENRY ST JOHN, VISCOUNT BOLINGBROKE l82The Idea of a Patriot King

GEORGE BERKELEY, BISHOP OF CLOYNE 183The Principles of Human Knowledge • Siris

WILLIAM LAW 185A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life

ALEXANDER POPE 187Letter • A Letter to a Noble Lord

LADY MARY WORTLEY MONTAGU l88Letters

SAMUEL RICHARDSON 191Clarissa

JOSEPH BUTLER, BISHOP OF DURHAM 195Fifteen Sermons

PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE, EARL OF CHESTERFIELD 196Letters to his son

JOHN, LORD HERVEY I98Memoirs of the Reign of George the Second

JOHN WESLEY 199Journal

JONATHAN EDWARDS 202A Divine and Supernatural Light • Personal Narrative •Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

WILLIAM MURRAY, EARL OF MANSFIELD 203Speech in the House of Lords

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 204Autobiography • letters • 'Proposed New Version of the Bible' •Speech at the Constitutional Convention

Xll CONTENTS

HENRY FIELDING 208Joseph Andrews • Jonathan Wild • Tom Jones • The Journal ofa Voyage to Lisbon

SAMUEL JOHNSON 213The Life of Richard Savage • from The'Rambler • letters •A Dictionary of the English Language • review of A Free Enquiryinto the Nature and. Origins of Evil. • from The Idler • Proceedingsof the Committee for Clothing French Prisoners of War • Rasselas •Preface to Shakespeare • A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland •Lives of the Poets • Diary

DAVID HUME 225'On the Dignity or Meanness of Human Nature' •'The Epicurean' • An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding •The History of Great Britain • 'On the Immortality of the Soul' •'The Natural History of Religion' • 'Of the Standard of Taste' •'My Own Life'

LAURENCE STERNE 23ITristram Shandy • A Sentimental Journey

THOMAS GRAY 235Letters

HORACE WALPOLE 236Letters

GILBERT WHITE 239The Natural History ofSelborne

JOHN WOOLMAN 242Journal

TOBIAS SMOLLETT 243Roderick Random • Humphry Clinker

WILLIAM ROBERTSON 247The History of the Reign of Charles the Fifth

SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS 248Discourses on Art

ADAM SMITH 25OThe Wealth of Nations

SIR WILLIAM BLACKSTONE 252Commentaries on the Laws of England

OLIVER GOLDSMITH 253'On the Use of Language' • The Citizen of the World •The Life of Richard Nash • The Vicar of Wakefield •An History of the Earth

CONTENTS Xlll

EDMUND BURKE 257Speech on American Taxation • Speech on Conciliation withAmerica • Speech on the East India Bill • Reflections on theRevolution in France • A Letter to Sir Hercules Langrishe • Letterson a Regicide Peace • A Letter to a Noble Lord

JAMES BRUCE 264Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile

WILLIAM COWPER 264Letters

HECTOR ST JEAN DE CREVECCEUR 267Letters from an American Farmer

EDWARD GIBBON 268The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire • letter • Autobiography

THOMAS PAINE 275Common Sense • The American Crisis • The Rights of Man •The Age of Reason

WILLIAM BARTRAM 278Travels Through North and South Carolina

JAMES BOSWELL 279Journals • Journal of a Tour of the Hebrides • The Life ofSamuel Johnson

' JUNIUS' 285

'To the Duke of Grafton'

HENRY FUSELI 286'Some Thoughts on Art and Artists'

ARTHUR YOUNG 287Travels in France

SIR JOSEPH BANKS 287Journal during Captain Cook's First Voyage in HMS Endeavour

THOMAS JEFFERSON 288The Declaration of Independence • letters

OLAUDAH EQUIANO 290The Life of Olaudah Equiano

WILLIAM HICKEY 29IMemoirs

THOMAS ERSKINE, FIRST BARON ERSKINE 293Speech

JAMES MADISON 293from The Federalist

XIV CONTENTS

FANNY BURNEY 294

Evelina • Diary and Letters

THOMAS BEWICK 297A Memoir

WILLIAM GODWIN 298An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice

WILLIAM BLAKE 299Letter • A Descriptive Catalogue of Pictures

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT 3OOA Vindication of the Rights of Woman

WILLIAM BECKFORD 301Excursion to the Monasteries ofAlcobaca and Batalha

WILLIAM COBBETT 302Rural Rides

JOHN NYREN 304The Young Cricketer's Tutor

ISAAC D'lSRAELI 304Curiosities of Literature • Literary Miscellanies

MARIA EDGEWORTH 305Castle Rackrent • The Absentee

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH 307Letter • The Convention of Cintra • Description of the Countryof the Lakes

JAMES HOGG 309The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

SIR WALTER SCOTT 310Rob Roy • Redgauntlet • lournal

SYDNEY SMITH 314'The Island of Ceylon' • Sketches of Moral Philosophy •review of Granby • 'Waterton's Wanderings in South America' •Memoir, by Lady Holland

DOROTHY WORDSWORTH 317Grasmere lournal

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE 319The Friend • Biographia Liieraria • Notebooks

ROBERT SOUTHEY 322Life of Nelson

C O N T E N T S XV

JANE AUSTEN 323

Sense and Sensibility • Northanger Abbey • Pride and Prejudice •Mansfield Park • Emma • Persuasion

CHARLES LAMB 333Letters •- 'Witches and other Night Fears' • 'On Some of theOld Actors' • 'Imperfect Sympathies'

WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR 335Imaginary Conversations

WILLIAM HAZLITT 336'On the Ignorance of the Learned' • death notice ofJohn Cavanagh • 'Why Distant Objects Please' • 'On Goinga Journey' • 'My First Acquaintance with the Poets' •Characteristics • The Spirit of the Age • 'On the Want of Money' •'On the Feeling of Immortality in Youth'

LORD COCKBURN 342Memorials of His Own Time

WASHINGTON IRVING 344A History of New York by Diedrich Knickerbocker

LEIGH HUNT 346Autobiography

THOMAS DE QUINCEY 347Confessions of an English Opium-Eater • 'On Murder Consideredas One of the Fine Arts' • 'Recollections of the Lake Poets' •'The English Mail Coach: Dream Fugue'

THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK 350Crotchet Castle • Gryll Grange

BENJAMIN ROBERT HAYDON 352Autobiography and Journals

GEORGE GORDON, LORD BYRON 353Journal • letters

SAMUEL BAMFORD 356Passages in the Life of a Radical

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER 357The Prairie • The Deerslayer

FREDERICK MARRYAT .. 358The Author's First Day at Sea • Joseph Rushbrook, or The Poacher

PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY 36OA Defence of Poetry • "Notes on Sculptures in Rome and Florence'

XVI CONTENTS

JOHN CLARE 361

Letters on Natural History

CHARLES GREVILLE 362The Greville Memoirs

WILLIAM CARLETON 364The Lough Dearg Pilgrim • 'The Poor Scholar' •'The Midnight Mass'

JOHN KEATS 366Preface to Endymion • letters

THOMAS CARLYLE 368Sartor Resartus • letters • The French Revolution •Past and Present • Life of John Sterling • Reminiscences

WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT 376The Conquest of Mexico

MARY SHELLEY 377Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus

EMILY EDEN 379Up the Country

THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY, LORD MACAULAY 380Speech • 'Horace Walpole' • History of England •'William Pitt' • Journal

JOHN HENRY NEWMAN 386Discourses on University Education • Apologia pro Vita Sua • letter

WILLIAM BARNES 388The Zong o'Solomon

JANE' WELSH CARLYLE 388letters • Journal

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 391Journal • Self-Reliance • English Traits • Thoreau

BENJAMIN DISRAELI . 395Coningsby • speech • Life of Lord George Bentinck •Lothair • Endymion

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE 397'Young Goodman Brown", • The Scarlet Letter • The BlithedaleRomance • Our Old Home '-

R. S. SURTEES 403Mr Sponge's Sporting Tour

CONTENTS XV11

SAMUEL P A L M E R 4O4

Sketchbook • letters

JOHN STUART MILL 406

'Coleridge' • On Liberty • Autobiography

EDWARD FITZGERALD 4O9

Letters

CHARLES DARWIN 411

The Voyage of the Beagle • The Origin of Species • The Descentof Man

EDGAR ALLAN POE 415

'The Cask of Amontillado' • 'The Tell-Tale Heart' •'William Cullen Bryant'

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 419

Letter • The Gettysburg Address

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES SR. 420

The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table

ELIZABETH GASKELL 421

Cranford • North and South • Life of Charlotte Bronte •Wives and Daughters

WILLIAM MAKEPEACE THACKERAY 427

'Going to see a Man Hanged' • The Book of Snobs • Vanity Fair •A Little Dinner at Timmins's

HENRY JAMES SR. 433

'Some Personal Recollections of Carlyle'

CHARLES DICKENS 434

The Pickwick Papers • The Old Curiosity Shop • Martin Chuzzlewit •Dombey and Son • David Copperfield • Bleak House • Little Dorrit •letter • Great Expectations • Our Mutual Friend • Edwin Drood

HENRY MAYHEW 447

London Labour and the London Poor

DAVID LIVINGSTONE 449

Missionary Travels • Last Journals

SHERIDAN LE FANU 451

'Green Tea'

JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY - 453

The Rise of the Dutch Republic • letter

RICHARD HENRY DANA JR. 454

Two Years Before the Mast

XV111 CONTENTS

ANTHONY TROLLOPE 455

Barchester Towers • Doctor Thome • The Small House at Allington •Miss Mackenzie • The Last Chronicle ofBarset • The Way We LiveNow • The Duke's Children

CHARLOTTE BRONTE 46O

Jane Eyre • Villette

HENRY DAVID THOREAU 464

Journal • Walden

EMILY BRONTE 467

Wuthering Heights

JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE 470History of England • The Oxford Counter-Reformation' •'On Progress'

FREDERICK DOUGLASS 472

The Life of Frederick Douglass

JOHN RUSKIN 474Diary • The Stones of Venice • Modern Painters • letter •The Cestus of Aglaia • The Crown of Wild Olive • Fors Clavigera •The Eagle's Nest • Praeterita

HERMAN MELVILLE 481

Moby-Dick • Bartleby • Billy Budd, Foretopman

CHARLES KINGSLEY 485

The Water-Babies • Prose Idylls

WALT WHITMAN 488'Street Yarn' • Specimen Days

GEORGE ELIOT 491

Adam Bede • The Mill on the Floss • Middlemarch •Daniel Deronda

WILKIE COLLINS 498

The Woman in White • Armadale • The Moonstone

JOHN TYNDALL 500

Faraday as a Discoverer

MATTHEW ARNOLD 501

On Translating Homer: Last Words • A French Eton • Preface toEssays in Criticism • Culture and Anarchy • 'Wordsworth'

ULYSSES S. GRANT 505Personal Memoirs

CONTENTS XIX

FRANCIS PARKMAN 507

The Oregon Trail • La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West •A Half-Century of Conflict

WILLIAM ALLINGHAM _ 509

Diary -

GEORGE MACDONALD . 511

The Princess and the Goblin

THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY 513

'Science and Morals' • 'Evolution and Ethics'

HENRY WALTER BATES 515

The Naturalist on the River Amazons

WALTER BAGEHOT 517

'The Character of Sir Robert Peel' • 'Percy Bysshe Shelley' •'The Ignorance of Man' • 'Lady Mary Wortley Montagu' •Lombard Street • 'The Death of Lord Brougham'

GEORGE MEREDITH 521

Beauchamp's Career • The Egoist • Diana of the Crossways

SIR JAMES FITZJAMES STEPHEN 523

Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

EMILY DICKINSON 523

Letters

MARK RUTHERFORD 525

The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford • The Revolution inTanner's Lane • Miriam's Schooling • Catharine Furze

LEWIS CARROLL 527

Through the Looking-Glass

SIR LESLIE STEPHEN 529

English Thought in the Eighteenth Century

WILLIAM MORRIS 530

Art and Socialism

LORD ACTON 531

Letter

JAMES ABBOTT MCNEILL WHISTLER 532

Ten O'Clock Lecture • The Gentle Art of Making Enemies

MARK TWAIN 533

Life on the Mississippi • Huckleberry Finn • Pudd'nhead Wilson •'Old Age' • Little Bessie • The Mysterious Stranger

XX C O N T E N T S

SAMUEL BUTLER 540

The Way of All Flesh • Note Books

ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE 543Love's Cross-Currents

WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS 544A Hazard of New Fortunes • My Mark Twain

JOHN BURROUGHS 546Locusts and Wild Honey

HENRY ADAMS 547Democracy • The Education of Henry Adams

WALTER PATER 550Studies in the History of the Renaissance • The Child in the House'

THOMAS HARDY 551Far from the Madding Crowd • The Mayor of Casterbridge •Tess of the d'Urbervilles • The Dynasts

FRANCIS KILVERT 556Diaries

W. H. HUDSON 559The Naturalist in La Plata • Birds in Town and Village • Birds andMan • Adventures among Birds • A Hind in Richmond Park

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES JR. 562The Common Law • 'Natural Law'

H. M. STANLEY 563How I Found Livingstone

WILLIAM JAMES 565'The Sentiment of Rationality' • letter • Psychology: Briefer Course •The Varieties of Religious Experience

AMBROSE BIERCE 569An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge'

HENRY JAMES 571The American • Washington Square • The Portrait of a Lady •Anthony Trollope' • The Bostonians • The Figure in the Carpet •'London Notes' • The Awkward Age • 'The Future of the Novel' •The Wings of the Dove • The Ambassadors • The Golden Bowl •The American Scene

JOSEPH FURPHY ^ 580Such is Life

GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS 580Early diaries • lournal • letters • Notes on Spiritual Exercises

CONTENTS XXI

GEORGE WASHINGTON CABLE 584

The Grandissimes

GEORGE SAINTSBURY 586Robert Southey

F. H. BRADLEY 586The Principles of Logic • Appearance and Reality

RICHARD JEFFERIES 587The Gamekeeper at Home • Hodge and His Masters

ALICE JAMES 591Diary

SIR EDMUND GOSSE 592Portraits and Sketches

SARAH ORNE JEWETT 593The Country of the Pointed Firs

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 594Treasure Island • The Beach at Falesd • Weir ofHermiston

F. W. MAITLAND 597'The Anglican Settlement and the Scottish Reformation'

KATE CHOPIN 599The Awakening

GEORGE MOORE 600Esther Waters • Hail and Farewell

OSCAR WILDE 605Letters • 'The Decay of Lying' • 'The Critic as Artist'

SIR JAMES FRAZER 608The Golden Bough

OLIVE SCHREINER 609The Story of an African Farm

GEORGE BERNARD SHAW 6llMusic in London • 'Blaming the Bard' • 'Epistle Dedicatory'to Man and Superman • Preface to Major Barbara • letter •The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism •Preface to Geneva • Sixteen Self Sketches

GEORGE GISSING 6l6New Grub Street • In the Year of Jubilee

JOSEPH CONRAD 619Lord Jim • Typhoon • Nostromo • The Secret Agent •Under Western Eyes • Chance • Victory

XX11 CONTENTS

SIR CHARLES SHERRINGTON 626

Man on his Nature

E. CE. SOMERVILLE and MARTIN ROSS 627

The Real Charlotte

JOHN MEADE FALKNER 628

The Nebuly Coat

A. E. HOUSMAN 63O

Lectures • 'The Application of Thought to Textual Criticism'

SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE 632

'The Illustrious Client'

FREDERICK ROLFE ('BARON CORVO') 634

The Desire and Pursuit of the Whole

WALTER SICKERT 636

Painters and Critics • La Peinture • Frith's Derby Day

CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN 637

The Yellow Wall-Paper

JAMES GIBBONS HUNEKER 638

New Cosmopolis

MARY KINGSLEY 64O

Travels in West Africa

EDITH WHARTON 642

The House of Mirth • The Custom of the Country •The Age of Innocence

JOHN JAY CHAPMAN 646

Greek Genius and Other Essays

ARTHUR MORRISON 647

A Child of the Jago

GEORGE SANTAYANA 647

The Life of Reason • Three Philosophical Poets • Character andOpinion in the United States • A note on T. S. Eliot

SIR ARTHUR QUILLER-COUCH 65O

'Jargon'

W. W. JACOBS -. 651

Dialstone Lane

RUDYARD KIPLING 652

The Jungle Book • Kim • 'The House Surgeon' • 'The Gardener'

CONTENTS XX111

W. B. YEATS 657

Estrangement • Reveries over Childhood and Youth • The Tremblingof the Veil

H. G. WELLS , 659

The Time Machine • The First Men in the Moon • Tono-Bungay •The History of Mr Polly • The Work, Wealth and Happinessof Mankind

JOHN GALSWORTHY 663In Chancery

ARNOLD BENNETT 664The Old Wives' Tale • Clayhanger

HENRY LAWSON 667'Water Them Geraniums'

NORMAN DOUGLAS 669Siren Land • South Wind

STEPHEN LEACOCK 67OArcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich

GEORGE DOUGLAS BROWN 671The House with the Green Shutters

SAKI 672

'The Stalled Ox'

HILAIRE BELLOC 673The Cruise of the 'Nona'

FRANK NORRIS 674McTeague

HENRY HANDEL RICHARDSON 675Maurice Guest

STEPHEN CRANE 677The Red Badge of Courage • The Open Boat

THEODORE DREISER 680Sister Carrie • The Financier • An American Tragedy

JAMES WELDON JOHNSON 684Along This Way

BERTRAND RUSSELL 686'Mathematics and the Metaphysicians' • Fact and Fiction

AUBREY BEARDSLEY 687Venus and Tannhduser

XXIV CONTENTS

SIR MAX BEERBOHM 689

'The Crime'

FORD MADOX FORD 69ISome Do Not • Return to Yesterday

WALTER DE LA MARE 693'Seaton's Aunt' • 'Crewe'

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL 695Great Contemporaries • The Second World War

G. K. CHESTERTON 696Robert Browning • Heretics • Charles Dickens • The ManWho Was Thursday • Orthodoxy • 'The Blue Cross'

ELLEN GLASGOW 7OOThey Stooped to Folly

W. SOMERSET MAUGHAM 701Of Human Bondage • Cakes and Ale

GERTRUDE STEIN 702The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas

CLARENCE DAY 704God and My Father

FORREST REID 7O5Peter Waring

JACK LONDON 7O6The Call of the Wild

G. M. TREVELYAN 707'Clio, A Muse'

SHERWOOD ANDERSON 708Winesburg, Ohio

WILLA CATHER 7O9My Antonia • A Lost Lady

JAMES AGATE 711Immoment Toys

EDWARD THOMAS 712Beautiful Wales • The South Country

E. M. FORSTER - . 713Howards End • A Passage to India • 'The Consolations of History'

JAMES BRANCH CABELL JYJBeyond Life

C O N T E N T S XXV

LYTTON STRACHEY 7l8

Queen Victoria

H. L. MENCKEN 719'The Metaphysician' • In Defense of Women • The AmericanLanguage • 'Coolidge'

ROSE MACAULAY .. 722The World My Wilderness

P. G. WODEHOUSE 723'The Voice of the Past' • Thank You, Jeeves

VIRGINIA WOOLF 724Diary • To the Lighthouse • A Room of One's Own • The Years •Between the Acts

JAMES STEPHENS 728The Crock of Gold • Irish Fairy Tales

JAMES JOYCE 730'The Sisters' • 'Ivy Day in the Committee Room' • A Portraitof the Artist as a Young Man • Ulysses • Finnegans Wake

JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES 737The Economic Consequences of the Peace • Essays in Biography

G. M. YOUNG 739

Victorian England: Portrait of an Age

DAMON RUNYON 741'Romance in the Roaring Forties'

WYNDHAM LEWIS 742Tarr • The Apes of God • Blasting and Bombardiering •'The Sea-Mists of the Winter' • Self Condemned

IVY COMPTON-BURNETT 745More Women than Men • A Father and His Fate • Manservant andMaidservant

D. H. LAWRENCE 746Sons and Lovers • The Rainbow • Women in Love • Sea andSardinia • Kangaroo • St Mawr • Lady Chatterley's Lover •Apocalypse

SINCLAIR LEWIS 753Main Street • Babbitt

RING LARDNER 754'The Golden Honeymoon'

RONALD FIRBANK 756Prancing Nigger

XXVI C O N T E N T S

HAROLD NICOLSON 758

Some People

SIEGFRIED SASSOON 759Sherston's Progress

EDWIN MUIR 76OThe Story and the Fable

T. E. LAWRENCE 761Seven Pillars of Wisdom

T. S. ELIOT 763The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism • 'In Memoriam'

KATHERINE MANSFIELD 764'The Daughters of the Late Colonel'

RAYMOND CHANDLER 766Farewell, My Lovely • The Little Sister

JOYCE CARY 768Mister Johnson

NEVILLE CARDUS 770The Summer Game

KATHERINE ANNE PORTER 77OThe Leaning Tower

JEAN RHYS 772After Leaving Mr Mackenzie

ZORA NEALE HURSTON 773Their Eyes Were Watching God

J. BT S. HALDANE 775'God-Makers'

REBECCA WEST 776The Meaning of Treason

HERBERT READ 778The Innocent Eye

E. E. CUMMINGS 779The Enormous Room

ALDOUS HUXLEY ' 779Crome Yellow

ROBERT GRAVES 781Goodbye to All That

CONTENTS XXV11

DAVID JONES 783

In Parenthesis

EDMUND WILSON 784

The American Earthquake • Axel's Castle -

EDMUND BLUNDEN 786

Undertones of War

JOHN DOS PASSOS 787

U.S.A.

WILLIAM FAULKNER 789

The Sound and the Fury

LIAM O'FLAHERTY 792

Famine

DAWN POWELL 793

The Golden Spur

SACHEVERELL SITWELL 794

Morning, Noon and Night in London

NIRAD C. CHAUDHURI 796

The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian

c. s. LEWIS 797

Out of the Silent Planet • 'A Reply to Professor Haldane'

ELIZABETH BOWEN 799

The House in Paris • The Heat of the Day

VLADIMIR NABOKOV 801

Pnin • Lolita • Speak, Memory

RICHARD HUGHES 804

A High Wind in Jamaica

V. S. PRITCHETT 806

In My Good Books • A Cab at the Door

SEAN O'FAOLAIN 807

'Persecution Mania'

RHYS DAVIES 809

'The Nature of Man'

C. L. R. JAMES 810

Beyond a Boundary

JOHN STEINBECK 8ll

Cannery Row

XXVUl CONTENTS

CHRISTINA STEAD 813

For Love Alone

GEORGE ORWELL 814'A Hanging' • Homage to Catalonia • 'The Art of Donald McGill' •Nineteen Eighty-Four

EVELYN WAUGH - 8l8Vile Bodies • The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold

ERSKINE CALDWELL 823Tobacco Road

KENNETH CLARK 824The Nude

WILLIAM PLOMER 825Turbott Wolfe

CYRIL CONNOLLY 826'Where Engels Fears to Tread'

FRANK O'CONNOR 827'The Holy Door'

FRANK SARGESON 829'Miss Briggs'

NATHANAEL WEST 83OThe Day of the Locust

CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD 83IMr Norris Changes Trains

GRAHAM GREENE 833Brighton Rock • The Ministry of Fear

A. J. LIEBLING 835The Road Back to Paris

HENRY GREEN 836Party Going

ROBERT PENN WARREN 837All the King's Men

JOHN O'HARA 838

'The Doctor's Son'

LIONEL TRILLING 84OThe Middle of the Journey • 'Manners, Morals and the Novel'

MULK RAJ ANAND 842Untouchable

CONTENTS XXIX

ANTHONY POWELL 844

Afternoon Men • Casanova's Chinese Restaurant

SAMUEL BECKETT 847'Dante and the Lobster' • Murphy • Malone Dies

WILLIAM EMPSON 85OSeven Types of Ambiguity

A. J. P. TAYLOR 851

The Trouble Makers • English History 1914-1945

DWIGHT MACDONALD 853Against the American Grain

JOHN BETJEMAN 854Little Posts for Lawyers

R. K. NARAYAN 854The Bachelor of Arts

W. H. AUDEN 856The Sea and the Mirror

LOREN EISELEY 857The Unexpected Universe

RICHARD WRIGHT 858Black Boy

JOCELYN BROOKE 860The Military Orchid

J. K. GALBRAITH 862The Great Crash

JOSEPH MITCHELL 863'Obituary of a Gin Mill'

MALCOLM LOWRY 865Under the Volcano

ISAIAH BERLIN 867'A Marvellous Decade'

EUDORA WELTY 869The Optimist's Daughter

G. V. DESANI 87IAll about H. Hatterr

PAUL BOWLES 872The Sheltering Sky

XXX C O N T E N T S

MERVYN PEAKE 873

Gormenghast

FLANN O'BRIEN 874At Swim-Two-Birds

J. L. AUSTIN 875'Other Minds'

WILLIAM GOLDING 876The Inheritors

WILLIAM SANSOM 878'Among the Dahlias'

JOHN CHEEVER 879'The Ocean'

PATRICK WHITE 880Voss

ANGUS WILSON 883Anglo-Saxon Attitudes

BARBARA PYM 884Less than Angels • Quartet in Autumn

ROBERTSON DAVIES 886The Rebel Angels

DYLAN THOMAS 887A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog

H. R. TREVOR-ROPER 889'The Myth of Charles I'

RANDALL JARRELL 89O'The Age of Criticism'

BERNARD MALAMUD 89I'The Jewbird'

RALPH ELLISON 892Invisible Man

PETER MEDAWAR 894The Future of Man

SAUL BELLOW _ 895The Adventures ofAugie March • Henderson the Rain King •Herzog • Mr Sammler's Planet

PATRICK LEIGH FERMOR 899A Time of Gifts

CONTENTS XXXI

CARSON MCCULLERS 900

The Member of the Wedding

ANTHONY BURGESS 9O2Inside Mr Enderby

RICHARD COBB 903Something to Hold Onto

MURIEL SPARK 9O5The Girls of Slender Means

CHRISTOPHER BURNEY 908The Dungeon Democracy

IRIS MURDOCH 909Under the Net

DORIS LESSING 911The Golden Notebook

BENEDICT KIELY 912A Ball of Malt and Madame Butterfly'

AMOS TUTUOLA 914The Palm-Wine Drinkard

D. J. ENRIGHT 915Memoirs of a Mendicant Professor

BRIAN MOORE 916Catholics

KINGSLEY AMIS 9l8Lucky Jim • Take a Girl Like You

RONALD BLYTHE 920Akenfield

NORMAN MAILER 921The Naked and the Dead

BRENDAN BEHAN 923Borstal Boy

KAMALA MARKANDAYA 925The Nowhere Man

SAM SELVON 926The Lonely Londoners

NADINE GORDIMER 928The Conservationist

XXXll CONTENTS

JAMES PURDY 930

Cabot Wright Begins

JAMES BALDWIN 931Go Tell It on the Mountain

TRUMAN CAPOTE 932In Cold Blood

FLANNERY O'CONNOR 934Wise Blood

GORE VIDAL 9351876

ALISON LURIE 937Love and Friendship

KENNETH TYNAN 938Curtains

ALAN SILLITOE 939The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner

DAN JACOBSON 940The Price of Diamonds

J. G. BALLARD 941'The Waiting Grounds'

WAGUIH GHALI 943Beer in the Snooker Club

CHINUA ACHEBE 945A Man of the People

IAN NAIRN 947Nairn's London

MORDECAI RICHLER 948St Urbain's Horseman

TOM WOLFE 949The Bonfire of the Vanities

ANITA BROOKNER 950A Family Romance

JOHN UPDIKE 952Rabbit, Run • 'Popular Music'

v. s. NAIPAUL 955

An Area of Darkness • The Mimic Men

CONTENTS XXX111

EDWARD HOAGLAND 957'The Threshold and the Jolt of Pain'

MALCOLM BRADBURY 958The History Man

PHILIP ROTH 959

Portnoy's Complaint

OLIVER SACKS 961A Leg to Stand On

MICHAEL FRAYN 962Towards the End of the Morning

WOLE SOYINKA 964Ake

ALASDAIR GRAY 966Lanark

DAVID MALOUF 967'The Only Speaker of His Tongue'

DAVID LODGE 969Small World

JOYCE CAROL OATES 971Childwold

MARGARET ATWOOD 972Good Bones

CLIVE JAMES 973Unreliable Memoirs

MARGARET DRABBLE 974The Needle's Eye

BRUCE CHATWIN 975In Patagonia

ANNE TYLER 976Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant

SALMAN RUSHDIE 978Midnight's Children

MARTIN AMIS 980Money

PETER ACKROYD 981Hawksmoor

XXXIV CONTENTS

MATTHEW PARRIS 983

J Couldn't Possibly Comment...

TIMOTHY MO 984Sour Sweet

A. N. WILSON 986A Bottle in the Smoke

VIKRAM SETH 988A Suitable Boy

HILARY MANTEL 99OAn Experiment in Love

KAZUO ISHIGURO 992

The Unconsoled.

Acknowledgements 995

Index of Authors 1007