The reader's guide to the Encyclopaedia Britannica : A handbook containing…

LITERATURE, INTRODUCTORY AND GENERAL [Sidenote: Contributors] The student of literature, like the student of painting, finds it as necessary to examine the great examples of the art as to study the laws which guide the artist, for the history of their development, and he will find that the articles which discuss literature in the Britannica are _themselves literature_, models of the form of artistic expression which they describe. A list of these contributors who deal with literary topics might, indeed, easily be mistaken for a list of such articles on the great contemporary writers as the student would most desire to read. Among these contributors are, for example: Edmund Gosse, Theodore Watts-Dunton, Swinburne, A. C. Benson, John Morley, Austin Dobson, Arthur Symons, J. Addington Symonds, Frederic Harrison, Walter Besant, William Sharp (“Fiona Macleod”), Professor George Saintsbury, Sir Arthur T. Quiller-Couch (“Q”), William Archer, Israel Gollancz, Robert Louis Stevenson, Andrew Lang, Sir Leslie Stephen, E. V. Lucas, Arthur Waugh, Mrs. Craigie (“John Oliver Hobbes”), Alice Meynell, Mrs. Humphry Ward, and—among American names,—George E. Woodberry, Henry Van Dyke, Edward Everett Hale, T. W. Higginson, Brander Matthews, W. P. Trent, Charles Eliot Norton, Charles William Eliot, George W. Cable, Lyman Abbott, Edmund Clarence Stedman, John Burroughs, Thomas Davidson, Horace E. Scudder, and Charles F. Richardson. Before discussing the articles in which these and many other distinguished contributors deal with various aspects of literature, attention may be directed to the treatment of religious literature in the Britannica. The Bible is the subject of a separate chapter in this Guide on _Bible Study_, to which the reader is also referred for the whole literature of Biblical criticism. Religious literature based upon the Bible is discussed in the articles LITURGY (Vol. 16, p. 795), by the Rev. F. E. Warren; SERMON (Vol. 24, p. 673), by Edmund Gosse, and HYMNS (Vol. 14, p. 181), by Lord Selborne, equivalent to 35 pages of this Guide. The medieval miracle plays and mysteries, presenting incidents from Scripture, are described in the section on the _Medieval Drama_ (Vol. 8, p. 497) of the article DRAMA. On the literature of other religions, see the chapter _For Ministers_. [Sidenote: General Articles] The student of literature in general may begin his course of reading with the article LITERATURE (Vol. 16, p. 783), a concise critical summary by Dr. James Fitzmaurice-Kelly, professor of Spanish language and literature, Liverpool University, best known as the editor of Cervantes. Read, after the article LITERATURE, the same contributor’s article TRANSLATION (Vol. 27, p. 183). The student who does not wish to approach literature from the philosophic side need not read the articles AESTHETICS and FINE ARTS; but even such a one should read the article STYLE (Vol. 25, p. 1055), by Edmund Gosse, essayist, poet, biographer and librarian of the House of Lords, and the article PROSE (Vol. 22, p. 450), by the same contributor. There is a well-known and perfectly authentic anecdote of Edmund Gosse’s predecessor as librarian of the House of Lords, who was once asked in the course of a newspaper symposium on education, “What were the principal factors in your education?” He replied by putting second only to his university training “the articles in the Encyclopaedia Britannica and in the _Athenaeum_ by Theodore Watts-Dunton.” Certainly the student will be well repaid by repeated study and analysis of Watts-Dunton’s article POETRY (Vol. 21, p. 877; equivalent to 45 pages of this Guide). The same author’s articles SONNET (Vol. 25, p. 414), MATTHEW ARNOLD (Vol. 2, p. 635), and WYCHERLEY (Vol. 28, p. 863) should be studied with the article POETRY as supplementing his literary philosophy. The greatest of literary forms is amply represented by the space and the authority given to it in the Britannica. The article DRAMA (Vol. 8, p. 475; equivalent to 225 pages of this Guide) is mainly the work of Prof. A. W. Ward, master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, editor of the _Cambridge History of English Literature_ and of the _Cambridge Modern History_; but some parts of the article are by William Archer, the dramatic critic, and by Auguste Filon (“Pierre Sandrié”). This elaborate article should be supplemented by the short article COMEDY (Vol. 6, p. 759) and by the biographical and critical sketches of the great dramatists. Among the many other articles in the Britannica on the forms of literature are: SATIRE (Vol. 24, p. 228), by Richard Garnett, late librarian British Museum, with which the student may well combine the articles HUMOUR and IRONY, the articles BALLADE, BALLADS (Lang), BUCOLICS, PASTORAL, CENTO, CHANT ROYAL (with Gosse’s first English chant royal, “The Praise of Dionysus,” transcribed in full), DESCRIPTIVE POETRY, ELEGY, EPIC POETRY, EPITHALAMIUM, HEROIC VERSE, IDYL, LIMERICK, LYRICAL POETRY, MACARONICS, NATIONAL ANTHEMS, ODE, OTTAVA RIMA, PANTUN, RIME ROYAL, RONDEAU, RONDEL, SESTETT, SESTINA, SONG, TRIOLET, VERS DE SOCIÉTÉ, VILANELLE, VIRELAY, and—a few of the prose forms, BIOGRAPHY, CONTE, CRITICISM, EPISTLE, ESSAY, EUPHUISM, NOVEL, PAMPHLET, PICARESQUE NOVEL, ROMANCE, TALE, TRACT,—nearly all these being by Edmund Gosse. Two articles of the utmost importance are DICTIONARY and ENCYCLOPAEDIA. Read the general article RHETORIC. [Sidenote: Periodical Publications] Periodical publications, especially those in the English and French languages, have contained a great part of the best literary criticism of miscellaneous essays published since the first French review appeared in 1665 and since the first English review, consisting wholly of original matter, was established in London in 1710. The latter was indebted to France not only for its model, but for its editor, who was a French Protestant refugee. Benjamin Franklin founded the first American monthly, the Philadelphian _General Magazine_ in 1741. The article PERIODICALS (Vol. 21, p. 151), by H. R. Tedder, librarian of the Athenaeum Club, London, contains separate sections on the reviews and magazines of _England_, the _United States_, _Canada_, _South Africa_, _West India and the British Crown Colonies_, _India and Ceylon_, _France_, _Germany_, _Austria_, _Switzerland_, _Italy_, _Belgium_, _Holland_, _Denmark_, _Norway_, _Sweden_, _Spain_, _Portugal_, _Greece_, _Russia_, _Bohemia_, _Hungary_ and _Japan_. NEWSPAPERS (Vol. 19, p. 544), equivalent to 140 pages of this Guide, is an article in which the student will find a full account of the most fertile, if not the most studied, form of modern literature in all parts of the world. See also the chapter in this Guide _For Journalists and Authors_. The reader should note that of the many articles on literary forms and rhetorical figures, only a few are given above, but they are listed more fully in the Index Volume, p. 929, where there are more than 350 such titles. He must remember also that there are more than 3,000 biographical and critical articles on authors in different languages and different periods. The following are “key” articles on national literatures: [Sidenote: National Literatures] ENGLISH LITERATURE, by Henry Bradley, joint-editor of the _New English Dictionary_; Prof. J. M. Manly, University of Chicago; Prof. Oliver Elton, University of Liverpool; Thomas Seccombe, author of _The Age of Johnson_. AMERICAN LITERATURE, by G. E. Woodberry, formerly professor in Columbia University. GERMAN LITERATURE, by Prof. J. G. Robertson, University of London, author of _History of German Literature_. DUTCH LITERATURE │by Edmund Gosse. FLEMISH LITERATURE │ „ WALLOONS, _Literature_ │ „ BELGIUM, _Literature_ │ „ DENMARK, _Literature_ │ „ SWEDEN, _Literature_ │ „ NORWAY, _Literature_ │ „ ICELAND, _Literature, Classic_, by Prof. Frederick York Powell of Oxford; _Recent_, by Sigfús Blöndal, librarian of Copenhagen University. FRENCH LITERATURE, by George Saintsbury. PROVENÇAL LITERATURE, by Paul Meyer, Director of the École des Chartes, Paris, and Prof. Hermann Oelsner, Oxford, author of a _History of Provençal Literature_. ANGLO-NORMAN LITERATURE, by Prof. Louis Brandin of the University of London. SPAIN, _Literature_, by Prof. J. Fitzmaurice-Kelly of the University of Liverpool, and A. Morel-Fatio, author of _L’Espagne au XVIe et au XVIIe siècles_. PORTUGAL, _Literature_, by Edgar Prestage, editor of _Letters of a Portuguese Nun_, etc. ITALIAN LITERATURE, by Prof. Hermann Oelsner, Oxford, and Prof. Adolfo Bartoli of the University of Florence, author of _Storia della letteratura Italiana_. SWITZERLAND, _Literature_, by Prof. W. A. B. Coolidge. HUNGARY, _Literature_, by Emil Reich, author of _Hungarian Literature_, and E. Dundas Butler, author of _Hungarian Poems and Fables for English Readers_, etc. POLAND, _Literature_, by W. R. Morfill, late professor of Slavonic Languages, Oxford, author of _Slavonic Literature_, etc. RUSSIA, _Literature_, also by Prof. Morfill. ARABIA, _Literature_, by the late Prof. M. J. de Goeje, University of Leiden, and the Rev. G. W. Thatcher, warden of Camden College, Sydney, N. S. W. PERSIA, _Literature_, by Prof. Karl Geldner, Marburg University, and Prof. Hermann Ethé, University College, Wales. CHINA, _Literature_, by H. A. Giles, professor of Chinese, Oxford. JAPAN, _Literature_, by Capt. Brinkley. HEBREW LITERATURE, by Arthur Cowley, sub-librarian of the Bodleian, Oxford. ARMENIAN LITERATURE, by F. C. Conybeare, author of _The Ancient Armenian Texts of Aristotle_. SYRIAC LITERATURE, by Norman McLean, lecturer in Aramaic, Cambridge. HINDOSTANI LITERATURE, by Sir Charles James Lyall. SANSKRIT, _Literature_, by Prof. Julius Eggeling, Edinburgh. CLASSICS, by Dr. J. E. Sandys, Cambridge, author of _History of Classical Scholarship_. GREEK LITERATURE: _Ancient_, by Sir R. C. Jebb, author of _Companion to Greek Studies_; _Byzantine_, by Prof. Karl Krumbacher, editor of _Byzantinische Zeitschrift_ and _Byzantinisches Archiv_; and _Modern_, by J. D. Bourchier, correspondent of _The Times_ (London) in South-Eastern Europe. LATIN LITERATURE, by Prof. A. S. Wilkins, of Owens College, Manchester, and Prof. R. S. Conway, of the University of Manchester. CELT, _Literature_, to which W. J. Gruffydd, lecturer in Celtic, University College, Cardiff, contributes the section on _Welsh_ literature; and E. C. Quiggin, lecturer in Celtic, Cambridge, contributes the sections on _Irish_, _Manx_, _Breton_ and _Cornish_ literatures. [Sidenote: Bibliography] This list of the literatures of many tongues, from each of which translations have added to the common stock accessible even to those who can read with ease only one language, indicates the existence of a bewildering mass of printed matter, and just as each language has its literature—using the word to signify output, so each subject upon which men write has its literature—using the word to signify material for any one branch of study. Bibliographies are the charts by which students are enabled to navigate these vast seas of knowledge. The articles BIBLIOGRAPHY (Vol. 3, p. 908), by A. W. Pollard, assistant librarian of the British Museum, and INDEX (Vol. 14, p. 373) describe the technicalities of cataloguing and classifying books and their contents. The Britannica is itself the most complete index to the subjects treated by books and the most complete bibliographical manual for the student that could be imagined. The Index of 500,000 entries (Vol. 29) shows to what class any one of half a million facts belongs, by referring to the article in which that fact is treated. At the end of the article a list of the best books on the subject shows the student who desires to specialize just where to go for further details. No less than 203,000 books are included in these lists appended to Britannica articles and many of them are, in themselves, substantial contributions to literature. The Shakespeare bibliography would, for example, fill 30 pages of the size and type of this Guide; the bibliography of English history, by A. F. Pollard, of the University of London, 13 pages, and the bibliography of French history, by Prof. Bémont of the École des Hautes Études, Paris, 8 pages. A group of articles of great interest to every student of literature deals with the methods and appliances by which writings are preserved and circulated. MANUSCRIPT (Vol. 17, p. 618) is by Sir E. Maunde Thompson, of the British Museum Library; BOOK (Vol. 4, p. 214); BOOK-COLLECTING (Vol. 4, p. 221) and INCUNABULA (Vol. 14, p. 369) are by A. W. Pollard, also of the British Museum Library. LIBRARIES (Vol. 16, p. 545), equivalent to 100 pages of this Guide, is by H. R. Tedder, librarian of the Athenaeum Club, London. The articles on printing, binding, publishing and similar subjects are described in the chapter of this Guide _For Printers_. With this chapter to help him the student will have little difficulty in devising his own course of reading in any one literature—starting with the general treatment, going from this to the separate biographies of the great authors mentioned in the general article, and, when there is in the national literature that he is studying some special development of a literary _genre_, as of the sermon in the 17th or the satire in the 18th century, turning to the article in the Britannica dealing with this form of literature, SATIRE, SERMON, or whatever it may be. For example, what could be more illuminating to the student of 19th century literature than the following passages-disconnected here—from the article SATIRE? Goethe and Schiller, Scott and Wadsworth, are now at hand, and as imagination gains ground satire declines. Byron, who in the 18th century would have been the greatest of satirists, is hurried by the spirit of his age into passion and description, bequeathing, however, a splendid proof of the possibility of allying satire with sublimity in his _Vision of Judgment_.... Miss Edgeworth skirts the confines of satire, and Miss Austen seasons her novels with the most exquisite satiric traits. Washington Irving revives the manner of _The Spectator_, and Tieck brings irony and persiflage to the discussion of critical problems.... In all the characteristics of his genius Thackeray is thoroughly English, and the faults and follies he chastises are those especially characteristic of British society. Good sense and the perception of the ridiculous are amalgamated in him; his satire is a thoroughly British article, a little over-solid, a little wanting in finish, but honest, weighty and durable. Posterity must go to him for the humours of the age of Victoria, as they go to Addison for those of Anne’s.... In Heine the satiric spirit, long confined to established literary forms, seems to obtain unrestrained freedom to wander where it will, nor have the ancient models been followed since by any considerable satirist except the Italian Giusti. The machinery employed by Moore was indeed transplanted to America by James Russell Lowell, whose _Biglow Papers_ represent perhaps the highest moral level yet attained by satire. In no age was the spirit of satire so generally diffused as in the 19th century, but many of its eminent writers, while bordering on the domains of satire, escape the definition of satirist. The term cannot be properly applied to Dickens, the keen observer of the oddities of human life; or to George Eliot, the critic of its emptiness when not inspired by a worthy purpose; or to Balzac, the painter of French society; or to Trollope, the mirror of the middle classes of England. If _Sartor Resartus_ could be regarded as a satire, Carlyle would rank among the first of satirists; but the satire, though very obvious, rather accompanies than inspires the composition.