Excerpt from Compendious History of English Literature, and of the English Language, Vol. 2 of 2: From the Norman Conquest With Numerous Specimens For the better suppression of stage-plays, interludes, and com 1 Collier, Hist. Dram. Poet. Ii. 106. 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.

Excerpt from History of English Literature, Vol. 1 of 2 Among the last acts of his life were his reading of my ms., and his instructions to his colleague about some alterations or kindly suggestions for the improvement of my text. But almost all the changes my version experienced were practically made by his own hand. In this paternal oversight I have cause for self-congratulation, for not every translator is so fortunate. I also received Professor Ten Brink's authority to make enlargements, extra foot-notes, a new arrangement of the paragraphs, or whatever else I might consider helpful in bring ing the work more closely home to his English and American readers, on whose appreciation he set great value. But I have naturally refrained from making much use of such flattering confidence; any changes or additions are duly noted where they occur. Besides the author's critical revision of my text, many of the proof sheets have been read by experienced students of English Literature, which has frequently resulted in a greater clearness of diction. 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.