competent to speak with authority.

The title, "A Library of the World's Best Literature," is strictly
descriptive. It means that what is offered to the reader is taken from
the best authors, and is fairly representative of the best literature
and of all literatures. It may be important historically, or because at
one time it expressed the thought and feeling of a nation, or because it
has the character of universality, or because the readers of to-day will
find it instructive, entertaining, or amusing. The Work aims to suit a
great variety of tastes, and thus to commend itself as a household
companion for any mood and any hour. There is no intention of presenting
merely a mass of historical material, however important it is in its
place, which is commonly of the sort that people recommend others to
read and do not read themselves. It is not a library of reference only,
but a library to be read. The selections do not represent the
partialities and prejudices and cultivation of any one person, or of a
group of editors even; but, under the necessary editorial supervision,
the sober judgment of almost as many minds as have assisted in the
preparation of these volumes. By this method, breadth of appreciation
has been sought.

The arrangement is not chronological, but alphabetical, under the names
of the authors, and, in some cases, of literatures and special
subjects. Thus, in each volume a certain variety is secured, the
heaviness or sameness of a mass of antique, classical, or mediaeval
material is avoided, and the reader obtains a sense of the varieties and
contrasts of different periods. But the work is not an encyclopaedia, or
merely a dictionary of authors. Comprehensive information as to all
writers of importance may be included in a supplementary reference
volume; but the attempt to quote from all would destroy the Work for