G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS
1882




TO
MY FATHER,
THIS VOLUME IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED




PREFACE.


It is attempted in this volume to trace the gradual progress of English
Prose Fiction from the early romance to the novel of the present day,
in such connection with the social characteristics of the epochs to
which these works respectively belong, as may conduce to a better
comprehension of their nature and significance.

As many of the earlier specimens of English fiction are of a character
or a rarity which makes any acquaintance with them difficult to the
general public, I have endeavored so to describe their style and
contents that the reader may obtain, to some degree, a personal
knowledge of them.

The novels of the nineteenth century are so numerous and so generally
familiar, that, in the chapter devoted to this period, I have sought