Excerpt from Famous Authors and the Best Literature of England and America: Containing the Lives of English and American Authors in Story Form; Their Portraits, Their Homes and Their Personal Traits; How They Worked and What They Wrote; Together With Choice Selections From Their Writings Coupled with these biographies are selections from the writings of each author, the purpose being to provide in compact and accessible form as much of the best that has been written as can be crowded within the covers of a single book. In thus joining the biographies of writers with extracts from their works, it is believed that several distinct advantages have been gained. In the first place, the book is made far more interesting. It is true that if you understand the character of an author the comprehension of his writings becomes easy, and it is also true that every author portrays himself in his works, even though it be against his will and so the union of writings and bio raphy will not only give a better and more complete picture of the author, but wil enable the reader to take up his writ ings with greater interest and with a better comprehension. It may reasonably be hoped, therefore, that this book will do much to further the cause of good litera ture. It will not only be read with interest; it will furnish the mind of the reader with more knowledge of authors and of literature. Here is spread out some share of all the feast that has been prepared; here is some of every sort; the reader may not only enjoy that with which he is familiar, but he will learn what else is to be had; he may not only gratify the taste which is already his, but it may reasonably be expected that he will cultivate a liking for new forms of literature. Herein is one Of the greatest uses which any book can serve, and to which this book is especially adapted. Here is not only the literature which entertains, but here is also the literature which refines and ennobles. If the reader is led to read the book by love of the former, his greatest thanks will be for providing him with the latter. And, further, this book will be the open sesame which, by spreading before the reader a vision of all that the world of literature affords, will open to him the door and admit him to wander at will. Helping him to form a taste, it will enable him to gratify it by telling him what is to be had outside its covers. 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.