A Critical History of English Literature - Volume I - Prea

Sep 18, 2026

A Critical History of English Literature - Volume I presents an authorial, narrative history of English literary development from its beginnings through Milton, combining description, explanation, and critical interpretation. The preface frames the work as a single mind’s continuous view rather than a reference compilation, explains priorities and limits in scholarship, and discusses quotation practice and spelling modernization. Subsequent contents outline major chapters and figures spanning Anglo-Saxon through Middle English prose and verse, Chaucer, Gower, Piers Plowman, and early Tudor contexts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages275

Reading Time7 h 4 min

AccessFree to download

Prea

Volume I

From the beginnings to Milton

Table of Chapters (Anglo-Saxon to Milton)

A CriticalHistoryofENGLISH Literature # Volume I From the beginningsto Milton DAVID DAICHESRevised Edition # A Critical HistoryEnglish Literatureof VOLUMEI ACritical HistoryofEnglisb Iiteratu IN TWO VOLUMES VOLUME I Mandarin Tomy former studentson both sides of the Atlantic pero pur vaed andando ascolta # A Mandarin PaperbackA CRITICAL HISTORY OF ENCLISH LITERATURE First published in Great Britain 1960by Martin Secker &Warburg LimitedRevised edition published 1969This edition published 1994by Mandarin Paperbacksan imprint of Reed International Books LtdMichelin House,81 Fulham Road,London SW36RBand Auckland,Melbourne,Singapore and Toronto Reprinted 1995,1996(twice) Copyright ◎1960 byTHE RONALD PRESS COMPANYAll rights reserved New matter Copyright 1969 by David DaichesThe author has asserted his moral rights A CIP catalogue record for this titleis available from the British Library ISBN0749318937 Printed and bound in Great Britain byBPC Paperbacks LtdA member ofThe British Printing Company Ltd This book is sold subject to the conditionthat it shall not,by way of trade or otherwise,be lent,resold,hired out,or otherwise circulatedwithout the publisher's prior consent in any formof binding or cover other than that in whichit is published and without a similarconditionincluding this condition being imposedon the subsequent purchaser # Prea THus IS AN AGE of specialist scholars,and for one man to attempt acomplete history of English literature is now both rash and unusual.I cannot claim to be a specialist in all the periods on which I havewritten,nor,in spite of my best attempts,have I been able to keepabreast of all new developments in English studies.But I have beenreading English literature continuously and closely ever since I be-gan my studies at Edinburgh University in 1930,and I have long feltthe urge to describe the whole scene as I see it.This,therefore,isone man's history of English literature;it is intended less as a workof reference than as a work of description,explanation,and criticalinterpretation.It is not meant to be looked up,but to be read.I havegiven myself generous space in dealing with major figures such asShakespeare and Milton,without bothering whether,in strict termsof relative greatness,they deserve so much more than I have givento some other writers.Indeed,the chapters on Shakespeare andMilton can perhaps stand as independent critical studies,capable ofbeing extracted from the rest of the History and read as short bookson their own.Nevertheless,though the word “critical in my title isimportant,I have tried never to lose sight of the fact that this is ahistory,not a series of separate critical studies,and the appropriatekinds of historical generalizations and the proper continuity of nar-rative have,I hope,been maintained throughout.I may sometimeshave treated a minor writer who interests me particularly at greaterlength than he deserves,or rather briefly summarized something im-portant and well known.But I have tried to see my subject steadilyand see it whole;and I have tried to write interestingly,less as theimpersonal scholar recording facts than as the interested reader shar-ing his knowledge and opinions On matters of pure scholarship I have,of course,often had to de-pend on the researches of others.On questions of emphasis and assessment I have done so as little as possible,although occasionallyeven the most conscientious critical historian must be content to takethe word of a sympathetic expert about the value of an odd minorwork to which he himself has never devoted a great deal of carefulattention.Art is long and life is short,and one cannot always bewholly original in everything.I hope,however,that the patternwhich a single mind imposes on this vast material will make myaccount more lively and suggestive than the conscientious compositeworks of reference by teams of experts,from which I have myselfprofited but which are not literary history in the sens

FAQs

What is the stated purpose of the book in the preface?

It is intended as one man’s history of English literature—less a reference work and more a narrative of description, explanation, and critical interpretation.

How does the author handle quotations in the text?

The author uses quotation more liberally than usual for a literary historian and states a deliberate inconsistency in quotation texts, including modernization rules.

Which literary periods and major figures does Volume I cover?

Volume I covers developments from Anglo-Saxon literature and Middle English prose and verse through chapters on Chaucer, Gower, Piers Plowman, the early Tudor scene, Spenser and his time, drama to Marlowe, Shakespeare, and concludes with Milton.

Sep 18, 2026

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