THIS charmingly printed little book was first published in 1895
with an introduction by George Saintsbury, which is reproduced here. Saintsbury particularly commended its non-fortuitous con- junction of old and new. " I cannot imagine," he said, " a more excellent way of knocking down with a double swashing-blow the two most persistent errors of all literary appreciation—the notion of Progress and the notion of Decadence." Mr. Logan Pearsall Smith places it among the " very few anthologies . . . which have proved to be of enduring value." Even a cursory glance through this little book will reveal that the compiler had excellent taste and true discrimination. His anthology has plan, and its juxtaposition under each day of the week from January rst to December 31st of extracts in prose and verse from old authors and those who in 1895 could still be called new—such as William Morris, George Meredith and John Ruskin —is designed with a care sometimes malicious but always discriminating.
Previous page
