A Catalogue of Books in First Editions Selected to Illustrate the History of English Prose Fiction from 1485 to 1870 |
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Common terms and phrases
ADVENTURES Aphra Behn Arcadia ARGENIS Arthur BEECHER Behn Black letter BOSTON CAXTON character CHARLES READE DICKENS Don Quixote Duodecimo Dutch early Elizabethan England English edition English Novel Euphues fame Fielding Folio Four volumes France Frontispiece GEORGE ELIOT Godwin Gothic romance Hawthorne HENRY History of English Humphry Clinker ILLUSTRATIONS imitated IMPRINTED AT LONDON inal cloth issued Italian Jane Eyre John Bunyan JOHN LYLY Joseph Andrews knyghts Latin lished literature LONDON PRINTED Lyly Malory mances Mary Miss monthly numbers novelist Octavo Orig Original cloth perfect copy picaresque Pickwick PLATE popular preface Pride and Prejudice Professor Cross published Quarto Raleigh reprinted RICHARD Richardson ROBERT COPLAND ROBERT GREENE Saintsbury SAMUEL Scarlet Letter Scott sentiment seventeenth century Sidney Sir Walter sketches Smollett Spanish story TALE Thackeray THOMAS MALORY Three volumes tion title-page trans translated into French Waverley WILLIAM PAINTER William Stansby woodcuts writes written wrote Wynkyn de Worde YORK
Popular passages
Page 83 - That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements, and feelings, and characters of ordinary life, which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with. The Big Bow-wow strain I can do myself like any now going ; but the exquisite touch, which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting, from the truth of the description and the sentiment, is denied to me.
Page 119 - History of New York, from the beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty.
Page 71 - The Romance is an heroic fable, which treats of fabulous persons and things. - The Novel is a picture of real life and manners, and of the times in which it is written. The Romance in lofty and elevated language, describes what never happened nor is likely to happen.
Page 112 - For I think that all right use of life, and the one secret of life, is to pave ways for the firmer footing of those who succeed us...
Page 11 - And truly that boy had access to a prodigious mine of such stories, whether " merry or sad." He had a copy, well thumbed from his first reading days, of ' The Palace of Pleasure, beautified, adorned, and well furnished with pleasaunt histories and excellent nouelles, selected out of diuers good and commendable authors; by William Painter, Clarke of the Ordinaunce and Armarie.
Page 4 - For herein may be seen noble chivalry, courtesy, humanity, friendliness, hardiness, love, friendship, cowardice, murder, hate, virtue, and sin. Do after the good and leave the evil, and it shall bring you to good fame and renown. And for to pass the time this book shall be pleasant to read in ; but for to give faith and believe that all is true that is contained herein, ye be at your liberty...
Page 21 - The Life and Death of William Longbeard, the most famous and witty English Traitor, borne in the Citty of London.
Page 33 - Barclay his Argenis. | or, The Loves of | Polyarchus | & Argenis. | Faithfully Translated out of Latin into English. | by | Kingsmill Long | Esquire. | The Second Edition, | Beautified with Pictures | Together with a Key | Praefixed to unlock | the whole Story.