A KEY TO THE TREASURES OF LITERATURE
BY
FRANK PARSONS
THIRD EDITION
REVISED AND ENLARGED
BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1893
Copyright, 1889, 1891, 1893,
By Frank Parsons.
UNIVERSITY PRESS:
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A.[iii]
At the request of the publishers the followingstatement is made as a substitute for the formerindefinite arrangement in respect to authorship.
The plan and composition of the book were mine;the work of my colleagues, F. E. Crawford and H. T.Richardson, consisting of criticism, verifications, andassistance in gathering materials for the appendix,—servicesof great value to me, and of which I wish toexpress my high appreciation.
A few additions have been made in this edition,and the book has been carefully revised throughout.
Boston, January, 1893.
The public and the critics have met us with awelcome far more cordial than we had dared toexpect, though not more so, of course, than we hopedfor. When did a thing such as that ever happen?We are glad to discover that in forming our expectationswe underrated their discernment, or our ownmerit (probably not the latter, judging by the remarksof two or three of our critics), and in realearnest we are grateful for their high appreciationof our work.
Some few—a very few—have found fault with us,and our thanks are due to them also; for honest,kindly, intelligent criticism is one of the most powerfulmeans of growth. The fact that this little volumeis not intended as an infallible guide, or as anythingmore than a stimulus to seek the best, and a suggestionof the method of guiding one's self and one'schildren, has been missed by some, though it appears[vi]distinctly in various places through the book, and isinvolved in what we deem the most useful part of ourwork,—the remarks following Table V., wherein weendeavor to show the student how he may learn toestimate the value of a book for himself. So farwere we from wishing to decide matters which manifestlyvary with the wants and capacities of each individual,that we emphatically advised the reader notto accept the opinions of any one as final, but toform his own judgments.
Some have failed to perceive that, in ranking thebooks, we have considered, not merely their intrinsicmerit, but also the needs and abilities of the averageEnglish reader, making a compound test by whichto judge, not the relative greatness of the books simply,but their relative claims on the attention of theordinary reader. This also was set forth, as wethought, quite distinctly, and was in fact understoodby nearly every one, but not by all, for some haveobjected to the order of the books in Table I., affirming,for example, that the "Federalist" and Bryce's"American Commonwealth" are far superior to "OurCountry," and should be placed above it. Thatwould be true if intrinsic greatness alone decided thematter. But the average reader with his needs andabilities is a fact