bygone years and those which favour men of letters of the present day. The greatly enhanced material results which now attend a successful literary career are too obvious to need more than a passing mention here. In the body of the work the Student is first warned against the improprieties which occasionally disfigure the pages even of good writers. In this connexion the purely grammatical errors and peculiarities of expression drawn principally from Foreign Idioms which must be sedulously avoided by the merest tyro in the art of composition, are treated at such length and with such clearness of example as will ensure their entire future avoidance. The main lines along which the writer must travel to acquire propriety and precision of style are broadly indicated; and the care which is necessary in the employment of Synonyms, or nearly synonymous words, is brought home to the Student by suitable instruction. His attention is then drawn to the proper construc tion of sentences—the keystone to the arch of perfect composition and he is afterwards introduced to the select body of authors, who, from the sixteenth century onward to the present time, have gradually and continuously built up our existing English style. The Student is now in a position to profit by a detailed account of the niceties of composition comprised in the employment of the various Figures of Speech, to each of which an entire chapter has been devoted. The foregoing directions are then combined in a general survey of the different kinds of style which mark the great masters in the art, and many sections are employed in placing before the Student the means whereby he may attain to the facile use of whichever of these styles he may prefer. At each stage of the process, he is furnished with abundant examples, culled from the ancient and modern worlds of literature, of the excellencies he should imitate, and of the faults he should avoid; and his judgment is assisted by a lengthy and careful analysis of the style of some of the acknowledged masters of English composition. Each of these departments has passed through the hands of a well-known Professor of the English 'language, and the entire volume has been revised and edited with the utmost care. An important feature in the present volume is the section devoted to practical hints on the technical and business aspects of composition and literature. Such information may indeed be found elsewhere in a scattered form, but it has not hitherto been embodied in a work of the present character. The Author is reminded of the necessary observances in the preparation of his MSS., and obtains glimpses, which may be turned to useful account, of the relations he may sustain with editors and publishers. He is shown how to correct his proofs in accordance with the best practice. He receives all needful explanations regarding the sizes and qualities of paper, and the varieties of type used in printing. In case he should achieve a popular success, he is instructed how he may make a large saving by means of stereotyping or electrotyping. He may further derive no inconsiderable advantage from ample suggestions as to binding, advertising, and distributing copies for review. And, finally, his legal rights are clearly set forth in a careful summary of the law of literary copyright. So fully, yet compactly, have all the essential practical points been brought out in this particular section, that no hesitation is felt in offering it as a Complete Guide on all matters connected with Printing and Publishing. The immense utility of such information is too obvious to call for further remark. Composition is peculiarly an art in which practice makes perfect, but it is equally true that well begun is half done; and the material success of the best compositions depends very largely indeed on the wise observance of practical conditions, such as are here indicated. It is with the assurance that success will crown their earnest endeavours to furnish a useful guide to those about to enter on the pleasant paths of literature, that the publishers confidently submit this volume to the attention of a discerning public. Cu. Deacon To CHARING CROSS CHAMBERS, LONDON, W.C. |