{"product_id":"curiosities-of-literature-vol-1-gb-21615","title":"Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCuriosities of Literature, Vol. 1\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA preface, being the entrance to a book, should invite by its beauty. An\r\nelegant porch announces the splendour of the interior. I have observed\r\nthat ordinary readers skip over these little elaborate compositions. The\r\nladies consider them as so many pages lost, which might better be\r\nemployed in the addition of a picturesque scene, or a tender letter to\r\ntheir novels. For my part I always gather amusement from a preface, be\r\nit awkwardly or skilfully written; for dulness, or impertinence, may\r\nraise a laugh for a page or two. A preface is frequently a superior\r\ncomposition to the work itself: for, long before the days of Johnson, it\r\nhad been a custom for many authors to solicit for this department of\r\ntheir work the ornamental contribution of a man of genius. Cicero tells\r\nhis friend Atticus, that he had a volume of prefaces or introductions\r\nalways ready by him to be used as circumstances required. These must\r\nhave been like our periodical essays. A good preface is as essential to\r\nput the reader into good humour, as a good prologue is to a play, or a\r\nfine symphony to an opera, containing something analogous to the work\r\nitself; so that we may feel its want as a desire not elsewhere to be\r\ngratified. The Italians call the preface La salsa del libra, the sauce\r\nof the book, and if well seasoned it creates an appetite in the reader\r\nto devour the book itself. A preface badly composed prejudices the\r\nreader against the work. Authors are not equally fortunate in these\r\nlittle introductions; some can compose volumes more skilfully than\r\nprefaces, and others can finish a preface who could never be capable of\r\nfinishing a book.\nOn a very elegant preface prefixed to an ill-written book, it[Pg 72] was\r\nobserved that they ought never to have come together; but a sarcastic\r\nwit remarked that he considered such marriages were allowable, for\r\nthey were not of kin.\nIn prefaces an affected haughtiness or an affected humility are alike\r\ndespicable. There is a deficient dignity in Robertson's; but the\r\nhaughtiness is now to our purpose. This is called by the French, \"la\r\nmorgue littraire,\" the surly pomposity of literature. It is sometimes\r\nused by writers who have succeeded in their first work, while the\r\nfailure of their subsequent productions appears to have given them a\r\nliterary hypochondriasm. Dr. Armstrong, after his classical poem, never\r\nshook hands cordially with the public for not relishing his barren\r\nlabours. In the preface to his lively \"Sketches\" he tells us, \"he\r\ncould give them much bolder strokes as well as more delicate touches,\r\nbut that he dreads the danger of writing too well, and feels the value\r\nof his own labour too sensibly to bestow it upon the mobility.\" This\r\nis pure milk compared to the gall in the preface to his poems. There\r\nhe tells us, \"that at last he has taken the trouble to collect them!\r\nWhat he has destroyed would, probably enough, have been better received\r\nby the great majority of readers. But he has always most heartily\r\ndespised their opinion.\" These prefaces remind one of the prologi\r\ngaleati, prefaces with a helmet! as St. Jerome entitles the one to his\r\nVersion of the Scriptures. These armed prefaces were formerly very\r\ncommon in the age of literary controversy; for half the business of an\r\nauthor consisted then, either in replying, or anticipating a reply, to\r\nthe attacks of his opponent.\n\u003cb\u003e ......Buy Now (To Read More)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eProduct details\u003ch3\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEbook Number\u003c\/b\u003e: 21615 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor\u003c\/b\u003e: Disraeli, Isaac \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRelease Date\u003c\/b\u003e: May 26, 2007 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat\u003c\/b\u003e: eBook \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage\u003c\/b\u003e: English \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eContributors\u003ch3\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEditor\u003c\/b\u003e: Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield, 1804-1881 \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"booksdeli.com","offers":[{"title":"Disraeli, Isaac,1766-1848 \/ eBook \/ English","offer_id":43217972854941,"sku":"gb-21615-ebook","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0619\/5648\/9373\/products\/21615.jpg?v=1671460977","url":"https:\/\/booksdeli.com\/products\/curiosities-of-literature-vol-1-gb-21615","provider":"booksdeli.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}