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Warner - World's Best Literature - v01 - A to Apu
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Title: Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern;
Charles Dudley Warner, editor; Hamilton Wright Mabie, Lucia
Gilbert Runkle, George H. Warner, associate editors . . .
Publisher: New York, R. S. Peale and J. A. Hill [c1896-97]
Copyright:
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## p. (#1) ##################################################
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-DEARBORN
39076000776372
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THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY AT WASHINGTON, D. C.
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IN
WORL!
SITT. . .
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1.
1
ill. . . ! ! !
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THE COMESSIONAL LIBRARY AT WASHA
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LIBRARY
OF THE
WORLD'S BEST LITERATURE
Ancient and Modern
CHARLES DUDLEYWARNER
EDITOR
HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE, LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE,
GEORGE H. WARNER
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
THIRTY VOLUMES
VOL. I
NEW YORK
R. S. PEALE AND J. A. HILL
PUBLISHERS
1.
## p. (#14) #################################################
COPYRIGHT 1896
BY R. S. PEALE AND J. A. HILL
All rights reserved
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
DEARBORN CENTER LIBRARY
دن را
S2
WERNERCOMPAM
PINTEROX
KRONO
KINDERS
## p. 1 (#15) ###############################################
THE ADVISORY COUNCIL
CRAWFORD H. TOY, A. M. , LL, D. ,
Professor of Hebrew, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Cambridge, Mass.
THOMAS R. LOUNSBURY, LL. D. , L. H. D. ,
Professor of English in the Sheffield Scientific School of
YALE UNIVERSITY, New Haven, Conn.
WILLIAM M. SLOANE, Ph. D. , L. H. D. ,
Professor of History and Political Science,
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, Princeton, N. J.
BRANDER MATTHEWS, A. M. , LL. B. ,
Professor of Literature, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, New York City.
JAMES B. ANGELL, LL. D. ,
President of the UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, Mich.
WILLARD FISKE, A. M. , Ph. D. ,
Late Professor of the Germanic and Scandinavian Languages
and Literatures,
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, N. Y.
EDWARD S. HOLDEN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Director of the Lick Observatory, and Astronomer,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Berkeley, Cal.
ALCÉE FORTIER, Lit. D. ,
Professor of the Romance Languages,
TULANE UNIVERSITY, New Orleans, La.
WILLIAM P. TRENT, M. A. ,
Dean of the Department of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of
English and History,
UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH, Sewanee, Tenn.
PAUL SHOREY, PH. D. ,
Professor of Greek and Latin Literature,
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, Chicago, Ill.
WILLIAM T. HARRIS, LL. D. ,
United States Commissioner of Education,
BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Washington, D. C.
MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Professor of Literature in the
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, Washington, D. C.
## p. 2 (#16) ###############################################
NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT
WING to the many changes in the assignment of topics and
engaging of writers incident to so extended a publication
as the Library of the World's Best Literature, the Editor
finds it impossible, before the completion of the work, adequately
to recognize the very great aid which he has received from a large
number of persons.
A full list of contributors will be given in one
of the concluding volumes. He will expressly acknowledge also his
debt to those who have assisted him editorially, or in other special
ways, in the preparation of these volumes.
Both Editor and Publishers have endeavored to give full credit to
every author quoted, and to accompany every citation with ample
notice of copyright ownership. At the close of the work it is their
purpose to express in a more formal way their sense of obligation to
the many publishers who have so courteously given permission for
this use of their property, and whose rights of ownership it is intended
thoroughly to protect.
## p. 3 (#17) ###############################################
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOL. 1
LIVED
PAGE
17
ABÉLARD AND HÉLOISE (by Thomas Davidson) 1079-1142
Letter of Héloise to Abélard
Abélard's Answer to Héloise
Vesper Hymn of Abélard
34
EDMOND ABOUT
1828–1885
The Capture ('The King of the Mountains')
Hadgi-Stavros (same)
The Victim (“The Man with the Broken Ear')
The Man without a Country (same)
51
ACCADIAN-BABYLONIAN AND Assyrian LITERATURE (by Craw-
ford H. Toy)
Theogony
Adapa and the Southwind
Revolt of Tiamat
Penitential Psalms
Descent to the Underworld Inscription of Sennacherib
The Flood
Invocation to the Goddess
The Eagle and the Snake
Beltis
The Flight of Etana
Oracles of Ishtar of Arbela
The God Zu
An Erechite's Lament
84
Abigail Adams (by Lucia Gilbert Runkle) 1744-1818
Letters To her Husband: May 24, 1775; June 15, 1775;
June 18, 1775; Nov. 27, 1775; April 20, 1777;
June 8, 1779
To her Sister: Sept. 5, 1784; May 10, 1785;
July 24, 1784; June 24, 1785
To her Niece
109
HENRY ADAMS
1838–
Auspices of the War of 1812
What the War of 1812 Demonstrated
Battle between the Constitution and the Guerrière
## p. 4 (#18) ###############################################
4
LIVED
PAGE
126
JOHN ADAMS
1735-1826
At the French Court (Diary')
Character of Franklin (Letter to the Boston Patriot)
134
John QUINCY ADAMS
1767-1848
Letter to his Father, at the Age of Ten
From the Memoirs, at the Age of Eighteen
From the Memoirs, Jan. 14, 1831; June 7, 1833; Sept. 9,
1833
The Mission of America (Fourth of July Oration, 1821)
The Right of Petition (Speech in Congress)
Nullification (Fourth of July Oration, 1831)
1805-1848
145
SARAH FLOWER ADAMS
He Sendeth Sun, He Sendeth Shower
Nearer, My God, to Thee
148
Joseph Addison (by Hamilton Wright Mabie) 1672-1720
Sir Roger de Coverley at Vanity of Human Life
the Play
Essay on Fans
Visit to Sir Roger de Cov- Hymn, The Spacious Fir-
erley
mament'
172
ÆLIANUS CLAUDIUS
Second Century
Of Certain Notable Men that made themselves Playfel-
lowes with Children
Of a Certaine Sicilian whose Eyesight was Woonderfull
Sharpe and Quick
The Lawe of the Lacedæmonians against Covetousness
That Sleep is the Brother of Death, and of Gorgias draw-
ing to his End
Of the Voluntary and Willing Death of Calanus
Of Delicate Dinners, Sumptuous Suppers, and Prodigall
Banqueting
Of Bestowing Time, and how Walking Up and Downe
was not Allowable among the Lacedæmonians
How Socrates Suppressed the Pryde and Hautinesse of
Alcibiades
Of Certaine Wastgoodes and Spendthriftes
ÆSCHINES
B. C. 389-314
A Defense and an Attack (Oration against Ctesiphon')
178
## p. 5 (#19) ###############################################
5
LIVED
PAGE
183
ÆschyLUS (by John Williams White) B. C. 525-456
Complaint of Prometheus (Prometheus')
Prayer to Artemis (“The Suppliants')
Defiance of Eteocles (“The Seven against Thebes')
Vision of Cassandra (Agamemnon')
Lament of the Old Nurse (“The Libation-Pourers')
Decree of Athena (“The Eumenides')
200
Æsop (by Harry Thurston Peck) Seventh Century B. C.
The Fox and the Lion
The Belly and the Members
The Ass in the Lion's Skin The Satyr and the Traveler
The Ass Eating Thistles
The Lion and the other Beasts
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing The Ass and the Little Dog
The Countryman and the
The Country Mouse and the
Snake
City Mouse
The Dog and the Wolf
209
JEAN Louis RODOLPHE AGASSIZ
1807-1873
The Silurian Beach (Geological Sketches)
Voices (Methods of Study in Natural History')
Formation of Coral Reefs (same)
A. D. 536-581
223
AGATHIAS
Apostrophe to Plutarch
224
GRACE AGUILAR
1816-1847
Greatness of Friendship (Woman's Friendship')
Order of Knighthood ('The Days of Bruce')
Culprit and Judge (Home Influence')
WILLIAM HARRISON AINSWORTH
1805-1882
Students of Paris (Crichton')
235
252
MARK AKENSIDE
1721-1770
From the Epistle to Curio
Aspirations after the Infinite ( Pleasures of the Imagina-
tion')
On a Sermon against Glory
262
PEDRO ANTONIO DE ALARCÓN
1833-1891
A Woman Viewed from Without ("The Three-Cornered
Hat')
How the Orphan Manuel gained his Sobriquet (“The Child
of the Ball')
## p. 6 (#20) ###############################################
6
LIVED
PAGE
268
AlcEUS
The Palace
A Banquet Song
An Invitation
Sixth Century B. C.
The Storm
The Poor Fisherman
The State
Poverty
272
275
BALTÁZAR DE ALCÁZAR
1530 ? -1606
Sleep
The Jovial Supper
ALCIPHRON (by Harry Thurston Peck) Second Century
From a Mercenary Girl — Petala to Simalion
Pleasures of Athens-Euthydicus to Epiphanio
From an Anxious Mother — Phyllis to Thrasonides
From a Curious Youth - Philocomus to Thestylus
From a Professional Diner-out — Capnosphrantes to Aris-
tomachus
Unlucky Luck - Chytrolictes to Patellocharon
Seventh Century B. C.
281
ALCMAN
Poem on Night
282
Louisa May Alcott
1832-1888
The Night Ward ('Hospital Sketches')
Amy's Valley of Humiliation ('Little Women')
Thoreau's Flute (Atlantic Monthly)
Song from the Suds ('Little Women')
Alcuin (by William H. Carpenter)
735 ? -804
On the Saints of the Church at York (Alcuin and the
Rise of the Christian Schools')
Disputation between Pepin, the Most Noble and Royal
Youth, and Albinus the Scholastic
A Letter from Alcuin to Charlemagne
295
303
HENRY M. ALDEN
1836-
A Dedication - To My Beloved Wife ('A Study of Death')
The Dove and the Serpent (same)
Death and Sleep (same)
The Parable of the Prodigal (same)
THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH
312
Destiny
Identity
1837-
Prescience
Alec Yeaton's Son
-
## p. 7 (#21) ###############################################
7
LIVED
PAGE
Thomas BailEY ALDRICH — Continued :
Memory
Sea Longings
Tennyson (1890)
A Shadow of the Night
Sweetheart, Sigh No More Outward Bound
Broken Music
Reminiscence
Elmwood
Père Antoine's Date-Palm
Miss Mehetabel's Son
349
ALEARDO ALEARDI
1812-1878
Cowards ("The Primal Histories')
The Harvesters ('Monte Circello')
The Death of the Year (“An Hour of My Youth')
354
JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT
1717-1783
Montesquieu (Eulogy in the Encyclopédie)
1749-1803
371
VITTORIO ALFIERI (by L. Oscar Kuhns)
Scenes from 'Agamemnon'
383
ALFONSO THE Wise
1221-1284
What Meaneth a Tyrant, and How he Useth his Power
('Las Siete Partidas')
On the Turks, and Why they are So Called ('La Gran
Conquista de Ultramar')
To the Month of Mary ("Cantigas ')
389
Alfred The Great
849-901
King Alfred on King-Craft
Alfred's Preface to the Version of Pope Gregory's 'Pas-
toral Care
From Boethius
Blossom Gatherings from St. Augustine
399
Charles Grant ALLEN
1848–
The Coloration of Flowers ('The Colors of Flowers')
Among the Heather ('The Evolutionist at Large')
The Heron's Haunt (“Vignettes from Nature')
409
JAMES LANE ALLEN
1850-
A Courtship (A Summer in Arcady')
Old King Solomon's Coronation (“Flute and Violin')
## p. 8 (#22) ###############################################
8
LIVED
PAGE
428
WILLIAM ALLINGHAM
The Ruined Chapel
The Winter Pear
O Spirit of the Summer-time
The Bubble
St. Margaret's Eve
1828-1889
The Fairies
Robin Redbreast
An Evening
Daffodil
Lovely Mary Donnelly
439
KARL JONAS LUDVIG ALMQUIST
1793-1866
Characteristics of Cattle
A New Undine (from 'The Book of the Rose')
God's War
446
JOHANNA AMBROSIUS
A Peasant's Thoughts
Struggle and Peace
1854-
Do Thou Love, Too!
Invitation
EDMONDO DE AMICIS
1846–
453
The Light (Constantinople')
Cordova (Spain)
Resemblances (same)
The Land of Pluck (Holland
Birds (same)
and Its People')
The Dutch Masters (Holland and Its People')
478
HENRI FRÉDÉRIC AMIEL (by Richard Burton) 1821-1881
Extracts from Amiel's Journal:
Christ's Real Message
Music and the Imagination
Duty
Love and the Sexes
Joubert
Fundamentals of Religion
Greeks vs. Moderns
Dangers from Decay of Ear-
Nature, and Teutonic and
nestness
Scandinavian Poetry
Woman's Ideal the Commu-
Training of Children
nity's Fate
Mozart and Beethoven
French Self-Consciousness
Self-Interest
Frivolous Art
Wagner's Music
Critical Ideals
Secret of Remaining Young The Best Art
Results of Equality
The True Critic
View-Points of History
Spring - Universal Religion
Introspection and Schopen- Introspective Meditations
hauer
Destiny (just before death)
ANACREON
492
Drinking
Age
B. C. 562 ? -477
The Epicure
Gold
—
## p. 9 (#23) ###############################################
9
LIVED
PAGE
ANACREON -- Continued :
The Grasshopper
The Swallow
A Lover's Sigh
The Poet's Choice
Drinking
500
Hans ChrisTIAN ANDERSEN (by Benjamin W. Wells)
1805-1875
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
What the Moon Saw
The Teapot
The Lovers
The Ugly Duckling
The Snow Queen
The Nightingale
The Market Place and the Andersen Jubilee at Odense
(The Story of My Life')
(Miserere in the Sixtine Chapel ('The Improvisatore')
ANEURIN
Sixth Century
The Slaying of Owain
The Fate of Hoel, Son of the Great Cian
The Giant Gwrveling Falls at Last
539
543
ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE (by Robert Sharp)
From Beowulf)
The Fortunes of Men
Deor's Lament
From Judith
From The Wanderer
The Fightat Maldon
The Seafarer
Cædmon's Inspiration
From the Chronicle)
1864-
574
GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO
The Drowned Boy ("The Triumph of Death')
To an Impromptu of Chopin (same)
India
586
ANTAR (by Edward S. Holden)
About 550-615
The l'alor of Antar
LUCIUS APULEIUS
Second Century
The Tale of Aristomenes, the Commercial Traveler (The
Metamorphoses')
The Awakening of Cupid (same)
597
## p. 10 (#24) ##############################################
Іо
LIST OF PORTRAITS
IN VOL. I.
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Full page
Full page
Pierre Abélard
Edmond About
Abigail Adams
John Adams
John Quincy Adams
Joseph Addison
Æschines
Æschylus
Æsop
Louis Agassiz
Grace Aguilar
W. H. Ainsworth
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Mark Akenside
Alcæus
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Louisa M. Alcott
T. B. Aldrich
Full page
J. Le R. d'Alembert
Vittorio Alfieri
Edmondo de Amicis
Anacreon
Hans Christian Andersen
Lucius Apuleius
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Vignette
## p. 11 (#25) ##############################################
II
PREFACE
el
(C
HE plan of this work is simple, and yet it is novel. In its dis-
tinctive features it differs from any compilation that has yet
been made. Its main purpose is to present to American
households a mass of good reading. But it goes much beyond this.
For in selecting this reading it draws upon all literatures of all time
and of every race, and thus becomes a conspectus of the thought
and intellectual evolution of man from the beginning. Another and
scarcely less important purpose is the interpretation of this literature
in essays by scholars and authors 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.
Users are free to copy, use, and redistribute the
work in part or in whole. It is possible that current copyright holders,
heirs or the estate of the authors of individual portions of the work, such
as illustrations or photographs, assert copyrights over these portions.
Depending on the nature of subsequent use that is made, additional rights
may need to be obtained independently of anything we can address. The
digital images and OCR of this work were produced by Google, Inc.
(indicated by a watermark on each page in the PageTurner). Google requests
that the images and OCR not be re-hosted, redistributed or used
commercially. The images are provided for educational, scholarly,
non-commercial purposes.
Find this book online: https://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39076000776372
This file has been created from the computer-extracted text of scanned page
images. Computer-extracted text may have errors, such as misspellings,
unusual characters, odd spacing and line breaks.
Original from: University of Michigan
Digitized by: Google
Generated at University of Chicago on 2023-04-19 01:20 GMT
## p. (#1) ##################################################
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-DEARBORN
39076000776372
## p. (#2) ##################################################
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1
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## p. (#10) #################################################
THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY AT WASHINGTON, D. C.
## p. (#11) #################################################
IN
WORL!
SITT. . .
? ! . :
1.
1
ill. . . ! ! !
'? )
1
Vision
P. 5. i
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,1
TD.
## p. (#12) #################################################
THE COMESSIONAL LIBRARY AT WASHA
## p. (#13) #################################################
LIBRARY
OF THE
WORLD'S BEST LITERATURE
Ancient and Modern
CHARLES DUDLEYWARNER
EDITOR
HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE, LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE,
GEORGE H. WARNER
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
THIRTY VOLUMES
VOL. I
NEW YORK
R. S. PEALE AND J. A. HILL
PUBLISHERS
1.
## p. (#14) #################################################
COPYRIGHT 1896
BY R. S. PEALE AND J. A. HILL
All rights reserved
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
DEARBORN CENTER LIBRARY
دن را
S2
WERNERCOMPAM
PINTEROX
KRONO
KINDERS
## p. 1 (#15) ###############################################
THE ADVISORY COUNCIL
CRAWFORD H. TOY, A. M. , LL, D. ,
Professor of Hebrew, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Cambridge, Mass.
THOMAS R. LOUNSBURY, LL. D. , L. H. D. ,
Professor of English in the Sheffield Scientific School of
YALE UNIVERSITY, New Haven, Conn.
WILLIAM M. SLOANE, Ph. D. , L. H. D. ,
Professor of History and Political Science,
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, Princeton, N. J.
BRANDER MATTHEWS, A. M. , LL. B. ,
Professor of Literature, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, New York City.
JAMES B. ANGELL, LL. D. ,
President of the UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, Mich.
WILLARD FISKE, A. M. , Ph. D. ,
Late Professor of the Germanic and Scandinavian Languages
and Literatures,
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, N. Y.
EDWARD S. HOLDEN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Director of the Lick Observatory, and Astronomer,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Berkeley, Cal.
ALCÉE FORTIER, Lit. D. ,
Professor of the Romance Languages,
TULANE UNIVERSITY, New Orleans, La.
WILLIAM P. TRENT, M. A. ,
Dean of the Department of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of
English and History,
UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH, Sewanee, Tenn.
PAUL SHOREY, PH. D. ,
Professor of Greek and Latin Literature,
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, Chicago, Ill.
WILLIAM T. HARRIS, LL. D. ,
United States Commissioner of Education,
BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Washington, D. C.
MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Professor of Literature in the
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, Washington, D. C.
## p. 2 (#16) ###############################################
NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT
WING to the many changes in the assignment of topics and
engaging of writers incident to so extended a publication
as the Library of the World's Best Literature, the Editor
finds it impossible, before the completion of the work, adequately
to recognize the very great aid which he has received from a large
number of persons.
A full list of contributors will be given in one
of the concluding volumes. He will expressly acknowledge also his
debt to those who have assisted him editorially, or in other special
ways, in the preparation of these volumes.
Both Editor and Publishers have endeavored to give full credit to
every author quoted, and to accompany every citation with ample
notice of copyright ownership. At the close of the work it is their
purpose to express in a more formal way their sense of obligation to
the many publishers who have so courteously given permission for
this use of their property, and whose rights of ownership it is intended
thoroughly to protect.
## p. 3 (#17) ###############################################
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOL. 1
LIVED
PAGE
17
ABÉLARD AND HÉLOISE (by Thomas Davidson) 1079-1142
Letter of Héloise to Abélard
Abélard's Answer to Héloise
Vesper Hymn of Abélard
34
EDMOND ABOUT
1828–1885
The Capture ('The King of the Mountains')
Hadgi-Stavros (same)
The Victim (“The Man with the Broken Ear')
The Man without a Country (same)
51
ACCADIAN-BABYLONIAN AND Assyrian LITERATURE (by Craw-
ford H. Toy)
Theogony
Adapa and the Southwind
Revolt of Tiamat
Penitential Psalms
Descent to the Underworld Inscription of Sennacherib
The Flood
Invocation to the Goddess
The Eagle and the Snake
Beltis
The Flight of Etana
Oracles of Ishtar of Arbela
The God Zu
An Erechite's Lament
84
Abigail Adams (by Lucia Gilbert Runkle) 1744-1818
Letters To her Husband: May 24, 1775; June 15, 1775;
June 18, 1775; Nov. 27, 1775; April 20, 1777;
June 8, 1779
To her Sister: Sept. 5, 1784; May 10, 1785;
July 24, 1784; June 24, 1785
To her Niece
109
HENRY ADAMS
1838–
Auspices of the War of 1812
What the War of 1812 Demonstrated
Battle between the Constitution and the Guerrière
## p. 4 (#18) ###############################################
4
LIVED
PAGE
126
JOHN ADAMS
1735-1826
At the French Court (Diary')
Character of Franklin (Letter to the Boston Patriot)
134
John QUINCY ADAMS
1767-1848
Letter to his Father, at the Age of Ten
From the Memoirs, at the Age of Eighteen
From the Memoirs, Jan. 14, 1831; June 7, 1833; Sept. 9,
1833
The Mission of America (Fourth of July Oration, 1821)
The Right of Petition (Speech in Congress)
Nullification (Fourth of July Oration, 1831)
1805-1848
145
SARAH FLOWER ADAMS
He Sendeth Sun, He Sendeth Shower
Nearer, My God, to Thee
148
Joseph Addison (by Hamilton Wright Mabie) 1672-1720
Sir Roger de Coverley at Vanity of Human Life
the Play
Essay on Fans
Visit to Sir Roger de Cov- Hymn, The Spacious Fir-
erley
mament'
172
ÆLIANUS CLAUDIUS
Second Century
Of Certain Notable Men that made themselves Playfel-
lowes with Children
Of a Certaine Sicilian whose Eyesight was Woonderfull
Sharpe and Quick
The Lawe of the Lacedæmonians against Covetousness
That Sleep is the Brother of Death, and of Gorgias draw-
ing to his End
Of the Voluntary and Willing Death of Calanus
Of Delicate Dinners, Sumptuous Suppers, and Prodigall
Banqueting
Of Bestowing Time, and how Walking Up and Downe
was not Allowable among the Lacedæmonians
How Socrates Suppressed the Pryde and Hautinesse of
Alcibiades
Of Certaine Wastgoodes and Spendthriftes
ÆSCHINES
B. C. 389-314
A Defense and an Attack (Oration against Ctesiphon')
178
## p. 5 (#19) ###############################################
5
LIVED
PAGE
183
ÆschyLUS (by John Williams White) B. C. 525-456
Complaint of Prometheus (Prometheus')
Prayer to Artemis (“The Suppliants')
Defiance of Eteocles (“The Seven against Thebes')
Vision of Cassandra (Agamemnon')
Lament of the Old Nurse (“The Libation-Pourers')
Decree of Athena (“The Eumenides')
200
Æsop (by Harry Thurston Peck) Seventh Century B. C.
The Fox and the Lion
The Belly and the Members
The Ass in the Lion's Skin The Satyr and the Traveler
The Ass Eating Thistles
The Lion and the other Beasts
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing The Ass and the Little Dog
The Countryman and the
The Country Mouse and the
Snake
City Mouse
The Dog and the Wolf
209
JEAN Louis RODOLPHE AGASSIZ
1807-1873
The Silurian Beach (Geological Sketches)
Voices (Methods of Study in Natural History')
Formation of Coral Reefs (same)
A. D. 536-581
223
AGATHIAS
Apostrophe to Plutarch
224
GRACE AGUILAR
1816-1847
Greatness of Friendship (Woman's Friendship')
Order of Knighthood ('The Days of Bruce')
Culprit and Judge (Home Influence')
WILLIAM HARRISON AINSWORTH
1805-1882
Students of Paris (Crichton')
235
252
MARK AKENSIDE
1721-1770
From the Epistle to Curio
Aspirations after the Infinite ( Pleasures of the Imagina-
tion')
On a Sermon against Glory
262
PEDRO ANTONIO DE ALARCÓN
1833-1891
A Woman Viewed from Without ("The Three-Cornered
Hat')
How the Orphan Manuel gained his Sobriquet (“The Child
of the Ball')
## p. 6 (#20) ###############################################
6
LIVED
PAGE
268
AlcEUS
The Palace
A Banquet Song
An Invitation
Sixth Century B. C.
The Storm
The Poor Fisherman
The State
Poverty
272
275
BALTÁZAR DE ALCÁZAR
1530 ? -1606
Sleep
The Jovial Supper
ALCIPHRON (by Harry Thurston Peck) Second Century
From a Mercenary Girl — Petala to Simalion
Pleasures of Athens-Euthydicus to Epiphanio
From an Anxious Mother — Phyllis to Thrasonides
From a Curious Youth - Philocomus to Thestylus
From a Professional Diner-out — Capnosphrantes to Aris-
tomachus
Unlucky Luck - Chytrolictes to Patellocharon
Seventh Century B. C.
281
ALCMAN
Poem on Night
282
Louisa May Alcott
1832-1888
The Night Ward ('Hospital Sketches')
Amy's Valley of Humiliation ('Little Women')
Thoreau's Flute (Atlantic Monthly)
Song from the Suds ('Little Women')
Alcuin (by William H. Carpenter)
735 ? -804
On the Saints of the Church at York (Alcuin and the
Rise of the Christian Schools')
Disputation between Pepin, the Most Noble and Royal
Youth, and Albinus the Scholastic
A Letter from Alcuin to Charlemagne
295
303
HENRY M. ALDEN
1836-
A Dedication - To My Beloved Wife ('A Study of Death')
The Dove and the Serpent (same)
Death and Sleep (same)
The Parable of the Prodigal (same)
THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH
312
Destiny
Identity
1837-
Prescience
Alec Yeaton's Son
-
## p. 7 (#21) ###############################################
7
LIVED
PAGE
Thomas BailEY ALDRICH — Continued :
Memory
Sea Longings
Tennyson (1890)
A Shadow of the Night
Sweetheart, Sigh No More Outward Bound
Broken Music
Reminiscence
Elmwood
Père Antoine's Date-Palm
Miss Mehetabel's Son
349
ALEARDO ALEARDI
1812-1878
Cowards ("The Primal Histories')
The Harvesters ('Monte Circello')
The Death of the Year (“An Hour of My Youth')
354
JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT
1717-1783
Montesquieu (Eulogy in the Encyclopédie)
1749-1803
371
VITTORIO ALFIERI (by L. Oscar Kuhns)
Scenes from 'Agamemnon'
383
ALFONSO THE Wise
1221-1284
What Meaneth a Tyrant, and How he Useth his Power
('Las Siete Partidas')
On the Turks, and Why they are So Called ('La Gran
Conquista de Ultramar')
To the Month of Mary ("Cantigas ')
389
Alfred The Great
849-901
King Alfred on King-Craft
Alfred's Preface to the Version of Pope Gregory's 'Pas-
toral Care
From Boethius
Blossom Gatherings from St. Augustine
399
Charles Grant ALLEN
1848–
The Coloration of Flowers ('The Colors of Flowers')
Among the Heather ('The Evolutionist at Large')
The Heron's Haunt (“Vignettes from Nature')
409
JAMES LANE ALLEN
1850-
A Courtship (A Summer in Arcady')
Old King Solomon's Coronation (“Flute and Violin')
## p. 8 (#22) ###############################################
8
LIVED
PAGE
428
WILLIAM ALLINGHAM
The Ruined Chapel
The Winter Pear
O Spirit of the Summer-time
The Bubble
St. Margaret's Eve
1828-1889
The Fairies
Robin Redbreast
An Evening
Daffodil
Lovely Mary Donnelly
439
KARL JONAS LUDVIG ALMQUIST
1793-1866
Characteristics of Cattle
A New Undine (from 'The Book of the Rose')
God's War
446
JOHANNA AMBROSIUS
A Peasant's Thoughts
Struggle and Peace
1854-
Do Thou Love, Too!
Invitation
EDMONDO DE AMICIS
1846–
453
The Light (Constantinople')
Cordova (Spain)
Resemblances (same)
The Land of Pluck (Holland
Birds (same)
and Its People')
The Dutch Masters (Holland and Its People')
478
HENRI FRÉDÉRIC AMIEL (by Richard Burton) 1821-1881
Extracts from Amiel's Journal:
Christ's Real Message
Music and the Imagination
Duty
Love and the Sexes
Joubert
Fundamentals of Religion
Greeks vs. Moderns
Dangers from Decay of Ear-
Nature, and Teutonic and
nestness
Scandinavian Poetry
Woman's Ideal the Commu-
Training of Children
nity's Fate
Mozart and Beethoven
French Self-Consciousness
Self-Interest
Frivolous Art
Wagner's Music
Critical Ideals
Secret of Remaining Young The Best Art
Results of Equality
The True Critic
View-Points of History
Spring - Universal Religion
Introspection and Schopen- Introspective Meditations
hauer
Destiny (just before death)
ANACREON
492
Drinking
Age
B. C. 562 ? -477
The Epicure
Gold
—
## p. 9 (#23) ###############################################
9
LIVED
PAGE
ANACREON -- Continued :
The Grasshopper
The Swallow
A Lover's Sigh
The Poet's Choice
Drinking
500
Hans ChrisTIAN ANDERSEN (by Benjamin W. Wells)
1805-1875
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
What the Moon Saw
The Teapot
The Lovers
The Ugly Duckling
The Snow Queen
The Nightingale
The Market Place and the Andersen Jubilee at Odense
(The Story of My Life')
(Miserere in the Sixtine Chapel ('The Improvisatore')
ANEURIN
Sixth Century
The Slaying of Owain
The Fate of Hoel, Son of the Great Cian
The Giant Gwrveling Falls at Last
539
543
ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE (by Robert Sharp)
From Beowulf)
The Fortunes of Men
Deor's Lament
From Judith
From The Wanderer
The Fightat Maldon
The Seafarer
Cædmon's Inspiration
From the Chronicle)
1864-
574
GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO
The Drowned Boy ("The Triumph of Death')
To an Impromptu of Chopin (same)
India
586
ANTAR (by Edward S. Holden)
About 550-615
The l'alor of Antar
LUCIUS APULEIUS
Second Century
The Tale of Aristomenes, the Commercial Traveler (The
Metamorphoses')
The Awakening of Cupid (same)
597
## p. 10 (#24) ##############################################
Іо
LIST OF PORTRAITS
IN VOL. I.
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Full page
Full page
Pierre Abélard
Edmond About
Abigail Adams
John Adams
John Quincy Adams
Joseph Addison
Æschines
Æschylus
Æsop
Louis Agassiz
Grace Aguilar
W. H. Ainsworth
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Mark Akenside
Alcæus
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Louisa M. Alcott
T. B. Aldrich
Full page
J. Le R. d'Alembert
Vittorio Alfieri
Edmondo de Amicis
Anacreon
Hans Christian Andersen
Lucius Apuleius
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Vignette
## p. 11 (#25) ##############################################
II
PREFACE
el
(C
HE plan of this work is simple, and yet it is novel. In its dis-
tinctive features it differs from any compilation that has yet
been made. Its main purpose is to present to American
households a mass of good reading. But it goes much beyond this.
For in selecting this reading it draws upon all literatures of all time
and of every race, and thus becomes a conspectus of the thought
and intellectual evolution of man from the beginning. Another and
scarcely less important purpose is the interpretation of this literature
in essays by scholars and authors 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 culti
vation 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
## p. 12 (#26) ##############################################
I 2
subjects. Thus, in each volume a certain variety is secured, the
heaviness or sameness of a mass of antique, classical, or mediæval
material is avoided, and the reader obtains a sense of the varieties
and contrasts of different periods. But the work is not an encyclo-
pædia, 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 reading purposes, and reduce it to a herbarium of
specimens.
In order to present a view of the entire literary field, and to make
these volumes especially useful to persons who have not access to
large libraries, as well as to treat certain literatures or subjects when
the names of writers are unknown or would have no significance to
the reader, it has been found necessary to make groups of certain
nationalities, periods, and special topics. For instance, if the reader
would like to know something of ancient and remote literatures
which cannot well be treated under the alphabetical list of authors,
he will find special essays by competent scholars on the Accadian-
Babylonian literature, on the Egyptian, the Hindu, the Chinese, the
Japanese, the Icelandic, the Celtic, and others, followed by selections
many of which have been specially translated for this work. In
these literatures names of ascertained authors are given in the Index.
The intention of the essays is to acquaint the reader with the spirit,
purpose, and tendency of these writings, in order that he may have
a comparative view of the continuity of thought and the value of
tradition in the world. Some subjects, like the Arthurian Legends,
the Nibelungen Lied, the Holy Grail, Provençal Poetry, the Chansons
and Romances, and the Gesta Romanorum, receive a similar treat-
ment.
Single poems upon which the authors' title to fame mainly
rests, familiar and dear hymns, and occasional and modern verse of
value, are also grouped together under an appropriate heading, with
reference in the Index whenever the poet is known.
Find more books at https://www. hathitrust. org.
Title: Library of the world's best literature, ancient and modern;
Charles Dudley Warner, editor; Hamilton Wright Mabie, Lucia
Gilbert Runkle, George H. Warner, associate editors . . .
Publisher: New York, R. S. Peale and J. A. Hill [c1896-97]
Copyright:
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-DEARBORN
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THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY AT WASHINGTON, D. C.
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IN
WORL!
SITT. . .
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1.
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THE COMESSIONAL LIBRARY AT WASHA
## p. (#13) #################################################
LIBRARY
OF THE
WORLD'S BEST LITERATURE
Ancient and Modern
CHARLES DUDLEYWARNER
EDITOR
HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE, LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE,
GEORGE H. WARNER
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
THIRTY VOLUMES
VOL. I
NEW YORK
R. S. PEALE AND J. A. HILL
PUBLISHERS
1.
## p. (#14) #################################################
COPYRIGHT 1896
BY R. S. PEALE AND J. A. HILL
All rights reserved
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
DEARBORN CENTER LIBRARY
دن را
S2
WERNERCOMPAM
PINTEROX
KRONO
KINDERS
## p. 1 (#15) ###############################################
THE ADVISORY COUNCIL
CRAWFORD H. TOY, A. M. , LL, D. ,
Professor of Hebrew, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Cambridge, Mass.
THOMAS R. LOUNSBURY, LL. D. , L. H. D. ,
Professor of English in the Sheffield Scientific School of
YALE UNIVERSITY, New Haven, Conn.
WILLIAM M. SLOANE, Ph. D. , L. H. D. ,
Professor of History and Political Science,
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, Princeton, N. J.
BRANDER MATTHEWS, A. M. , LL. B. ,
Professor of Literature, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, New York City.
JAMES B. ANGELL, LL. D. ,
President of the UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, Mich.
WILLARD FISKE, A. M. , Ph. D. ,
Late Professor of the Germanic and Scandinavian Languages
and Literatures,
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, N. Y.
EDWARD S. HOLDEN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Director of the Lick Observatory, and Astronomer,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Berkeley, Cal.
ALCÉE FORTIER, Lit. D. ,
Professor of the Romance Languages,
TULANE UNIVERSITY, New Orleans, La.
WILLIAM P. TRENT, M. A. ,
Dean of the Department of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of
English and History,
UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH, Sewanee, Tenn.
PAUL SHOREY, PH. D. ,
Professor of Greek and Latin Literature,
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, Chicago, Ill.
WILLIAM T. HARRIS, LL. D. ,
United States Commissioner of Education,
BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Washington, D. C.
MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Professor of Literature in the
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, Washington, D. C.
## p. 2 (#16) ###############################################
NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT
WING to the many changes in the assignment of topics and
engaging of writers incident to so extended a publication
as the Library of the World's Best Literature, the Editor
finds it impossible, before the completion of the work, adequately
to recognize the very great aid which he has received from a large
number of persons.
A full list of contributors will be given in one
of the concluding volumes. He will expressly acknowledge also his
debt to those who have assisted him editorially, or in other special
ways, in the preparation of these volumes.
Both Editor and Publishers have endeavored to give full credit to
every author quoted, and to accompany every citation with ample
notice of copyright ownership. At the close of the work it is their
purpose to express in a more formal way their sense of obligation to
the many publishers who have so courteously given permission for
this use of their property, and whose rights of ownership it is intended
thoroughly to protect.
## p. 3 (#17) ###############################################
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOL. 1
LIVED
PAGE
17
ABÉLARD AND HÉLOISE (by Thomas Davidson) 1079-1142
Letter of Héloise to Abélard
Abélard's Answer to Héloise
Vesper Hymn of Abélard
34
EDMOND ABOUT
1828–1885
The Capture ('The King of the Mountains')
Hadgi-Stavros (same)
The Victim (“The Man with the Broken Ear')
The Man without a Country (same)
51
ACCADIAN-BABYLONIAN AND Assyrian LITERATURE (by Craw-
ford H. Toy)
Theogony
Adapa and the Southwind
Revolt of Tiamat
Penitential Psalms
Descent to the Underworld Inscription of Sennacherib
The Flood
Invocation to the Goddess
The Eagle and the Snake
Beltis
The Flight of Etana
Oracles of Ishtar of Arbela
The God Zu
An Erechite's Lament
84
Abigail Adams (by Lucia Gilbert Runkle) 1744-1818
Letters To her Husband: May 24, 1775; June 15, 1775;
June 18, 1775; Nov. 27, 1775; April 20, 1777;
June 8, 1779
To her Sister: Sept. 5, 1784; May 10, 1785;
July 24, 1784; June 24, 1785
To her Niece
109
HENRY ADAMS
1838–
Auspices of the War of 1812
What the War of 1812 Demonstrated
Battle between the Constitution and the Guerrière
## p. 4 (#18) ###############################################
4
LIVED
PAGE
126
JOHN ADAMS
1735-1826
At the French Court (Diary')
Character of Franklin (Letter to the Boston Patriot)
134
John QUINCY ADAMS
1767-1848
Letter to his Father, at the Age of Ten
From the Memoirs, at the Age of Eighteen
From the Memoirs, Jan. 14, 1831; June 7, 1833; Sept. 9,
1833
The Mission of America (Fourth of July Oration, 1821)
The Right of Petition (Speech in Congress)
Nullification (Fourth of July Oration, 1831)
1805-1848
145
SARAH FLOWER ADAMS
He Sendeth Sun, He Sendeth Shower
Nearer, My God, to Thee
148
Joseph Addison (by Hamilton Wright Mabie) 1672-1720
Sir Roger de Coverley at Vanity of Human Life
the Play
Essay on Fans
Visit to Sir Roger de Cov- Hymn, The Spacious Fir-
erley
mament'
172
ÆLIANUS CLAUDIUS
Second Century
Of Certain Notable Men that made themselves Playfel-
lowes with Children
Of a Certaine Sicilian whose Eyesight was Woonderfull
Sharpe and Quick
The Lawe of the Lacedæmonians against Covetousness
That Sleep is the Brother of Death, and of Gorgias draw-
ing to his End
Of the Voluntary and Willing Death of Calanus
Of Delicate Dinners, Sumptuous Suppers, and Prodigall
Banqueting
Of Bestowing Time, and how Walking Up and Downe
was not Allowable among the Lacedæmonians
How Socrates Suppressed the Pryde and Hautinesse of
Alcibiades
Of Certaine Wastgoodes and Spendthriftes
ÆSCHINES
B. C. 389-314
A Defense and an Attack (Oration against Ctesiphon')
178
## p. 5 (#19) ###############################################
5
LIVED
PAGE
183
ÆschyLUS (by John Williams White) B. C. 525-456
Complaint of Prometheus (Prometheus')
Prayer to Artemis (“The Suppliants')
Defiance of Eteocles (“The Seven against Thebes')
Vision of Cassandra (Agamemnon')
Lament of the Old Nurse (“The Libation-Pourers')
Decree of Athena (“The Eumenides')
200
Æsop (by Harry Thurston Peck) Seventh Century B. C.
The Fox and the Lion
The Belly and the Members
The Ass in the Lion's Skin The Satyr and the Traveler
The Ass Eating Thistles
The Lion and the other Beasts
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing The Ass and the Little Dog
The Countryman and the
The Country Mouse and the
Snake
City Mouse
The Dog and the Wolf
209
JEAN Louis RODOLPHE AGASSIZ
1807-1873
The Silurian Beach (Geological Sketches)
Voices (Methods of Study in Natural History')
Formation of Coral Reefs (same)
A. D. 536-581
223
AGATHIAS
Apostrophe to Plutarch
224
GRACE AGUILAR
1816-1847
Greatness of Friendship (Woman's Friendship')
Order of Knighthood ('The Days of Bruce')
Culprit and Judge (Home Influence')
WILLIAM HARRISON AINSWORTH
1805-1882
Students of Paris (Crichton')
235
252
MARK AKENSIDE
1721-1770
From the Epistle to Curio
Aspirations after the Infinite ( Pleasures of the Imagina-
tion')
On a Sermon against Glory
262
PEDRO ANTONIO DE ALARCÓN
1833-1891
A Woman Viewed from Without ("The Three-Cornered
Hat')
How the Orphan Manuel gained his Sobriquet (“The Child
of the Ball')
## p. 6 (#20) ###############################################
6
LIVED
PAGE
268
AlcEUS
The Palace
A Banquet Song
An Invitation
Sixth Century B. C.
The Storm
The Poor Fisherman
The State
Poverty
272
275
BALTÁZAR DE ALCÁZAR
1530 ? -1606
Sleep
The Jovial Supper
ALCIPHRON (by Harry Thurston Peck) Second Century
From a Mercenary Girl — Petala to Simalion
Pleasures of Athens-Euthydicus to Epiphanio
From an Anxious Mother — Phyllis to Thrasonides
From a Curious Youth - Philocomus to Thestylus
From a Professional Diner-out — Capnosphrantes to Aris-
tomachus
Unlucky Luck - Chytrolictes to Patellocharon
Seventh Century B. C.
281
ALCMAN
Poem on Night
282
Louisa May Alcott
1832-1888
The Night Ward ('Hospital Sketches')
Amy's Valley of Humiliation ('Little Women')
Thoreau's Flute (Atlantic Monthly)
Song from the Suds ('Little Women')
Alcuin (by William H. Carpenter)
735 ? -804
On the Saints of the Church at York (Alcuin and the
Rise of the Christian Schools')
Disputation between Pepin, the Most Noble and Royal
Youth, and Albinus the Scholastic
A Letter from Alcuin to Charlemagne
295
303
HENRY M. ALDEN
1836-
A Dedication - To My Beloved Wife ('A Study of Death')
The Dove and the Serpent (same)
Death and Sleep (same)
The Parable of the Prodigal (same)
THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH
312
Destiny
Identity
1837-
Prescience
Alec Yeaton's Son
-
## p. 7 (#21) ###############################################
7
LIVED
PAGE
Thomas BailEY ALDRICH — Continued :
Memory
Sea Longings
Tennyson (1890)
A Shadow of the Night
Sweetheart, Sigh No More Outward Bound
Broken Music
Reminiscence
Elmwood
Père Antoine's Date-Palm
Miss Mehetabel's Son
349
ALEARDO ALEARDI
1812-1878
Cowards ("The Primal Histories')
The Harvesters ('Monte Circello')
The Death of the Year (“An Hour of My Youth')
354
JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT
1717-1783
Montesquieu (Eulogy in the Encyclopédie)
1749-1803
371
VITTORIO ALFIERI (by L. Oscar Kuhns)
Scenes from 'Agamemnon'
383
ALFONSO THE Wise
1221-1284
What Meaneth a Tyrant, and How he Useth his Power
('Las Siete Partidas')
On the Turks, and Why they are So Called ('La Gran
Conquista de Ultramar')
To the Month of Mary ("Cantigas ')
389
Alfred The Great
849-901
King Alfred on King-Craft
Alfred's Preface to the Version of Pope Gregory's 'Pas-
toral Care
From Boethius
Blossom Gatherings from St. Augustine
399
Charles Grant ALLEN
1848–
The Coloration of Flowers ('The Colors of Flowers')
Among the Heather ('The Evolutionist at Large')
The Heron's Haunt (“Vignettes from Nature')
409
JAMES LANE ALLEN
1850-
A Courtship (A Summer in Arcady')
Old King Solomon's Coronation (“Flute and Violin')
## p. 8 (#22) ###############################################
8
LIVED
PAGE
428
WILLIAM ALLINGHAM
The Ruined Chapel
The Winter Pear
O Spirit of the Summer-time
The Bubble
St. Margaret's Eve
1828-1889
The Fairies
Robin Redbreast
An Evening
Daffodil
Lovely Mary Donnelly
439
KARL JONAS LUDVIG ALMQUIST
1793-1866
Characteristics of Cattle
A New Undine (from 'The Book of the Rose')
God's War
446
JOHANNA AMBROSIUS
A Peasant's Thoughts
Struggle and Peace
1854-
Do Thou Love, Too!
Invitation
EDMONDO DE AMICIS
1846–
453
The Light (Constantinople')
Cordova (Spain)
Resemblances (same)
The Land of Pluck (Holland
Birds (same)
and Its People')
The Dutch Masters (Holland and Its People')
478
HENRI FRÉDÉRIC AMIEL (by Richard Burton) 1821-1881
Extracts from Amiel's Journal:
Christ's Real Message
Music and the Imagination
Duty
Love and the Sexes
Joubert
Fundamentals of Religion
Greeks vs. Moderns
Dangers from Decay of Ear-
Nature, and Teutonic and
nestness
Scandinavian Poetry
Woman's Ideal the Commu-
Training of Children
nity's Fate
Mozart and Beethoven
French Self-Consciousness
Self-Interest
Frivolous Art
Wagner's Music
Critical Ideals
Secret of Remaining Young The Best Art
Results of Equality
The True Critic
View-Points of History
Spring - Universal Religion
Introspection and Schopen- Introspective Meditations
hauer
Destiny (just before death)
ANACREON
492
Drinking
Age
B. C. 562 ? -477
The Epicure
Gold
—
## p. 9 (#23) ###############################################
9
LIVED
PAGE
ANACREON -- Continued :
The Grasshopper
The Swallow
A Lover's Sigh
The Poet's Choice
Drinking
500
Hans ChrisTIAN ANDERSEN (by Benjamin W. Wells)
1805-1875
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
What the Moon Saw
The Teapot
The Lovers
The Ugly Duckling
The Snow Queen
The Nightingale
The Market Place and the Andersen Jubilee at Odense
(The Story of My Life')
(Miserere in the Sixtine Chapel ('The Improvisatore')
ANEURIN
Sixth Century
The Slaying of Owain
The Fate of Hoel, Son of the Great Cian
The Giant Gwrveling Falls at Last
539
543
ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE (by Robert Sharp)
From Beowulf)
The Fortunes of Men
Deor's Lament
From Judith
From The Wanderer
The Fightat Maldon
The Seafarer
Cædmon's Inspiration
From the Chronicle)
1864-
574
GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO
The Drowned Boy ("The Triumph of Death')
To an Impromptu of Chopin (same)
India
586
ANTAR (by Edward S. Holden)
About 550-615
The l'alor of Antar
LUCIUS APULEIUS
Second Century
The Tale of Aristomenes, the Commercial Traveler (The
Metamorphoses')
The Awakening of Cupid (same)
597
## p. 10 (#24) ##############################################
Іо
LIST OF PORTRAITS
IN VOL. I.
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Full page
Full page
Pierre Abélard
Edmond About
Abigail Adams
John Adams
John Quincy Adams
Joseph Addison
Æschines
Æschylus
Æsop
Louis Agassiz
Grace Aguilar
W. H. Ainsworth
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Mark Akenside
Alcæus
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Louisa M. Alcott
T. B. Aldrich
Full page
J. Le R. d'Alembert
Vittorio Alfieri
Edmondo de Amicis
Anacreon
Hans Christian Andersen
Lucius Apuleius
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Vignette
## p. 11 (#25) ##############################################
II
PREFACE
el
(C
HE plan of this work is simple, and yet it is novel. In its dis-
tinctive features it differs from any compilation that has yet
been made. Its main purpose is to present to American
households a mass of good reading. But it goes much beyond this.
For in selecting this reading it draws upon all literatures of all time
and of every race, and thus becomes a conspectus of the thought
and intellectual evolution of man from the beginning. Another and
scarcely less important purpose is the interpretation of this literature
in essays by scholars and authors 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.
Users are free to copy, use, and redistribute the
work in part or in whole. It is possible that current copyright holders,
heirs or the estate of the authors of individual portions of the work, such
as illustrations or photographs, assert copyrights over these portions.
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## p. (#1) ##################################################
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN-DEARBORN
39076000776372
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1
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THE CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY AT WASHINGTON, D. C.
## p. (#11) #################################################
IN
WORL!
SITT. . .
? ! . :
1.
1
ill. . . ! ! !
'? )
1
Vision
P. 5. i
ili
,1
TD.
## p. (#12) #################################################
THE COMESSIONAL LIBRARY AT WASHA
## p. (#13) #################################################
LIBRARY
OF THE
WORLD'S BEST LITERATURE
Ancient and Modern
CHARLES DUDLEYWARNER
EDITOR
HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE, LUCIA GILBERT RUNKLE,
GEORGE H. WARNER
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
THIRTY VOLUMES
VOL. I
NEW YORK
R. S. PEALE AND J. A. HILL
PUBLISHERS
1.
## p. (#14) #################################################
COPYRIGHT 1896
BY R. S. PEALE AND J. A. HILL
All rights reserved
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
DEARBORN CENTER LIBRARY
دن را
S2
WERNERCOMPAM
PINTEROX
KRONO
KINDERS
## p. 1 (#15) ###############################################
THE ADVISORY COUNCIL
CRAWFORD H. TOY, A. M. , LL, D. ,
Professor of Hebrew, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Cambridge, Mass.
THOMAS R. LOUNSBURY, LL. D. , L. H. D. ,
Professor of English in the Sheffield Scientific School of
YALE UNIVERSITY, New Haven, Conn.
WILLIAM M. SLOANE, Ph. D. , L. H. D. ,
Professor of History and Political Science,
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, Princeton, N. J.
BRANDER MATTHEWS, A. M. , LL. B. ,
Professor of Literature, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, New York City.
JAMES B. ANGELL, LL. D. ,
President of the UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ann Arbor, Mich.
WILLARD FISKE, A. M. , Ph. D. ,
Late Professor of the Germanic and Scandinavian Languages
and Literatures,
CORNELL UNIVERSITY, Ithaca, N. Y.
EDWARD S. HOLDEN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Director of the Lick Observatory, and Astronomer,
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Berkeley, Cal.
ALCÉE FORTIER, Lit. D. ,
Professor of the Romance Languages,
TULANE UNIVERSITY, New Orleans, La.
WILLIAM P. TRENT, M. A. ,
Dean of the Department of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of
English and History,
UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH, Sewanee, Tenn.
PAUL SHOREY, PH. D. ,
Professor of Greek and Latin Literature,
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, Chicago, Ill.
WILLIAM T. HARRIS, LL. D. ,
United States Commissioner of Education,
BUREAU OF EDUCATION, Washington, D. C.
MAURICE FRANCIS EGAN, A. M. , LL. D. ,
Professor of Literature in the
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, Washington, D. C.
## p. 2 (#16) ###############################################
NOTE OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT
WING to the many changes in the assignment of topics and
engaging of writers incident to so extended a publication
as the Library of the World's Best Literature, the Editor
finds it impossible, before the completion of the work, adequately
to recognize the very great aid which he has received from a large
number of persons.
A full list of contributors will be given in one
of the concluding volumes. He will expressly acknowledge also his
debt to those who have assisted him editorially, or in other special
ways, in the preparation of these volumes.
Both Editor and Publishers have endeavored to give full credit to
every author quoted, and to accompany every citation with ample
notice of copyright ownership. At the close of the work it is their
purpose to express in a more formal way their sense of obligation to
the many publishers who have so courteously given permission for
this use of their property, and whose rights of ownership it is intended
thoroughly to protect.
## p. 3 (#17) ###############################################
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOL. 1
LIVED
PAGE
17
ABÉLARD AND HÉLOISE (by Thomas Davidson) 1079-1142
Letter of Héloise to Abélard
Abélard's Answer to Héloise
Vesper Hymn of Abélard
34
EDMOND ABOUT
1828–1885
The Capture ('The King of the Mountains')
Hadgi-Stavros (same)
The Victim (“The Man with the Broken Ear')
The Man without a Country (same)
51
ACCADIAN-BABYLONIAN AND Assyrian LITERATURE (by Craw-
ford H. Toy)
Theogony
Adapa and the Southwind
Revolt of Tiamat
Penitential Psalms
Descent to the Underworld Inscription of Sennacherib
The Flood
Invocation to the Goddess
The Eagle and the Snake
Beltis
The Flight of Etana
Oracles of Ishtar of Arbela
The God Zu
An Erechite's Lament
84
Abigail Adams (by Lucia Gilbert Runkle) 1744-1818
Letters To her Husband: May 24, 1775; June 15, 1775;
June 18, 1775; Nov. 27, 1775; April 20, 1777;
June 8, 1779
To her Sister: Sept. 5, 1784; May 10, 1785;
July 24, 1784; June 24, 1785
To her Niece
109
HENRY ADAMS
1838–
Auspices of the War of 1812
What the War of 1812 Demonstrated
Battle between the Constitution and the Guerrière
## p. 4 (#18) ###############################################
4
LIVED
PAGE
126
JOHN ADAMS
1735-1826
At the French Court (Diary')
Character of Franklin (Letter to the Boston Patriot)
134
John QUINCY ADAMS
1767-1848
Letter to his Father, at the Age of Ten
From the Memoirs, at the Age of Eighteen
From the Memoirs, Jan. 14, 1831; June 7, 1833; Sept. 9,
1833
The Mission of America (Fourth of July Oration, 1821)
The Right of Petition (Speech in Congress)
Nullification (Fourth of July Oration, 1831)
1805-1848
145
SARAH FLOWER ADAMS
He Sendeth Sun, He Sendeth Shower
Nearer, My God, to Thee
148
Joseph Addison (by Hamilton Wright Mabie) 1672-1720
Sir Roger de Coverley at Vanity of Human Life
the Play
Essay on Fans
Visit to Sir Roger de Cov- Hymn, The Spacious Fir-
erley
mament'
172
ÆLIANUS CLAUDIUS
Second Century
Of Certain Notable Men that made themselves Playfel-
lowes with Children
Of a Certaine Sicilian whose Eyesight was Woonderfull
Sharpe and Quick
The Lawe of the Lacedæmonians against Covetousness
That Sleep is the Brother of Death, and of Gorgias draw-
ing to his End
Of the Voluntary and Willing Death of Calanus
Of Delicate Dinners, Sumptuous Suppers, and Prodigall
Banqueting
Of Bestowing Time, and how Walking Up and Downe
was not Allowable among the Lacedæmonians
How Socrates Suppressed the Pryde and Hautinesse of
Alcibiades
Of Certaine Wastgoodes and Spendthriftes
ÆSCHINES
B. C. 389-314
A Defense and an Attack (Oration against Ctesiphon')
178
## p. 5 (#19) ###############################################
5
LIVED
PAGE
183
ÆschyLUS (by John Williams White) B. C. 525-456
Complaint of Prometheus (Prometheus')
Prayer to Artemis (“The Suppliants')
Defiance of Eteocles (“The Seven against Thebes')
Vision of Cassandra (Agamemnon')
Lament of the Old Nurse (“The Libation-Pourers')
Decree of Athena (“The Eumenides')
200
Æsop (by Harry Thurston Peck) Seventh Century B. C.
The Fox and the Lion
The Belly and the Members
The Ass in the Lion's Skin The Satyr and the Traveler
The Ass Eating Thistles
The Lion and the other Beasts
The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing The Ass and the Little Dog
The Countryman and the
The Country Mouse and the
Snake
City Mouse
The Dog and the Wolf
209
JEAN Louis RODOLPHE AGASSIZ
1807-1873
The Silurian Beach (Geological Sketches)
Voices (Methods of Study in Natural History')
Formation of Coral Reefs (same)
A. D. 536-581
223
AGATHIAS
Apostrophe to Plutarch
224
GRACE AGUILAR
1816-1847
Greatness of Friendship (Woman's Friendship')
Order of Knighthood ('The Days of Bruce')
Culprit and Judge (Home Influence')
WILLIAM HARRISON AINSWORTH
1805-1882
Students of Paris (Crichton')
235
252
MARK AKENSIDE
1721-1770
From the Epistle to Curio
Aspirations after the Infinite ( Pleasures of the Imagina-
tion')
On a Sermon against Glory
262
PEDRO ANTONIO DE ALARCÓN
1833-1891
A Woman Viewed from Without ("The Three-Cornered
Hat')
How the Orphan Manuel gained his Sobriquet (“The Child
of the Ball')
## p. 6 (#20) ###############################################
6
LIVED
PAGE
268
AlcEUS
The Palace
A Banquet Song
An Invitation
Sixth Century B. C.
The Storm
The Poor Fisherman
The State
Poverty
272
275
BALTÁZAR DE ALCÁZAR
1530 ? -1606
Sleep
The Jovial Supper
ALCIPHRON (by Harry Thurston Peck) Second Century
From a Mercenary Girl — Petala to Simalion
Pleasures of Athens-Euthydicus to Epiphanio
From an Anxious Mother — Phyllis to Thrasonides
From a Curious Youth - Philocomus to Thestylus
From a Professional Diner-out — Capnosphrantes to Aris-
tomachus
Unlucky Luck - Chytrolictes to Patellocharon
Seventh Century B. C.
281
ALCMAN
Poem on Night
282
Louisa May Alcott
1832-1888
The Night Ward ('Hospital Sketches')
Amy's Valley of Humiliation ('Little Women')
Thoreau's Flute (Atlantic Monthly)
Song from the Suds ('Little Women')
Alcuin (by William H. Carpenter)
735 ? -804
On the Saints of the Church at York (Alcuin and the
Rise of the Christian Schools')
Disputation between Pepin, the Most Noble and Royal
Youth, and Albinus the Scholastic
A Letter from Alcuin to Charlemagne
295
303
HENRY M. ALDEN
1836-
A Dedication - To My Beloved Wife ('A Study of Death')
The Dove and the Serpent (same)
Death and Sleep (same)
The Parable of the Prodigal (same)
THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH
312
Destiny
Identity
1837-
Prescience
Alec Yeaton's Son
-
## p. 7 (#21) ###############################################
7
LIVED
PAGE
Thomas BailEY ALDRICH — Continued :
Memory
Sea Longings
Tennyson (1890)
A Shadow of the Night
Sweetheart, Sigh No More Outward Bound
Broken Music
Reminiscence
Elmwood
Père Antoine's Date-Palm
Miss Mehetabel's Son
349
ALEARDO ALEARDI
1812-1878
Cowards ("The Primal Histories')
The Harvesters ('Monte Circello')
The Death of the Year (“An Hour of My Youth')
354
JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT
1717-1783
Montesquieu (Eulogy in the Encyclopédie)
1749-1803
371
VITTORIO ALFIERI (by L. Oscar Kuhns)
Scenes from 'Agamemnon'
383
ALFONSO THE Wise
1221-1284
What Meaneth a Tyrant, and How he Useth his Power
('Las Siete Partidas')
On the Turks, and Why they are So Called ('La Gran
Conquista de Ultramar')
To the Month of Mary ("Cantigas ')
389
Alfred The Great
849-901
King Alfred on King-Craft
Alfred's Preface to the Version of Pope Gregory's 'Pas-
toral Care
From Boethius
Blossom Gatherings from St. Augustine
399
Charles Grant ALLEN
1848–
The Coloration of Flowers ('The Colors of Flowers')
Among the Heather ('The Evolutionist at Large')
The Heron's Haunt (“Vignettes from Nature')
409
JAMES LANE ALLEN
1850-
A Courtship (A Summer in Arcady')
Old King Solomon's Coronation (“Flute and Violin')
## p. 8 (#22) ###############################################
8
LIVED
PAGE
428
WILLIAM ALLINGHAM
The Ruined Chapel
The Winter Pear
O Spirit of the Summer-time
The Bubble
St. Margaret's Eve
1828-1889
The Fairies
Robin Redbreast
An Evening
Daffodil
Lovely Mary Donnelly
439
KARL JONAS LUDVIG ALMQUIST
1793-1866
Characteristics of Cattle
A New Undine (from 'The Book of the Rose')
God's War
446
JOHANNA AMBROSIUS
A Peasant's Thoughts
Struggle and Peace
1854-
Do Thou Love, Too!
Invitation
EDMONDO DE AMICIS
1846–
453
The Light (Constantinople')
Cordova (Spain)
Resemblances (same)
The Land of Pluck (Holland
Birds (same)
and Its People')
The Dutch Masters (Holland and Its People')
478
HENRI FRÉDÉRIC AMIEL (by Richard Burton) 1821-1881
Extracts from Amiel's Journal:
Christ's Real Message
Music and the Imagination
Duty
Love and the Sexes
Joubert
Fundamentals of Religion
Greeks vs. Moderns
Dangers from Decay of Ear-
Nature, and Teutonic and
nestness
Scandinavian Poetry
Woman's Ideal the Commu-
Training of Children
nity's Fate
Mozart and Beethoven
French Self-Consciousness
Self-Interest
Frivolous Art
Wagner's Music
Critical Ideals
Secret of Remaining Young The Best Art
Results of Equality
The True Critic
View-Points of History
Spring - Universal Religion
Introspection and Schopen- Introspective Meditations
hauer
Destiny (just before death)
ANACREON
492
Drinking
Age
B. C. 562 ? -477
The Epicure
Gold
—
## p. 9 (#23) ###############################################
9
LIVED
PAGE
ANACREON -- Continued :
The Grasshopper
The Swallow
A Lover's Sigh
The Poet's Choice
Drinking
500
Hans ChrisTIAN ANDERSEN (by Benjamin W. Wells)
1805-1875
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
What the Moon Saw
The Teapot
The Lovers
The Ugly Duckling
The Snow Queen
The Nightingale
The Market Place and the Andersen Jubilee at Odense
(The Story of My Life')
(Miserere in the Sixtine Chapel ('The Improvisatore')
ANEURIN
Sixth Century
The Slaying of Owain
The Fate of Hoel, Son of the Great Cian
The Giant Gwrveling Falls at Last
539
543
ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE (by Robert Sharp)
From Beowulf)
The Fortunes of Men
Deor's Lament
From Judith
From The Wanderer
The Fightat Maldon
The Seafarer
Cædmon's Inspiration
From the Chronicle)
1864-
574
GABRIELE D'ANNUNZIO
The Drowned Boy ("The Triumph of Death')
To an Impromptu of Chopin (same)
India
586
ANTAR (by Edward S. Holden)
About 550-615
The l'alor of Antar
LUCIUS APULEIUS
Second Century
The Tale of Aristomenes, the Commercial Traveler (The
Metamorphoses')
The Awakening of Cupid (same)
597
## p. 10 (#24) ##############################################
Іо
LIST OF PORTRAITS
IN VOL. I.
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Full page
Full page
Pierre Abélard
Edmond About
Abigail Adams
John Adams
John Quincy Adams
Joseph Addison
Æschines
Æschylus
Æsop
Louis Agassiz
Grace Aguilar
W. H. Ainsworth
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Mark Akenside
Alcæus
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Vignette
Louisa M. Alcott
T. B. Aldrich
Full page
J. Le R. d'Alembert
Vittorio Alfieri
Edmondo de Amicis
Anacreon
Hans Christian Andersen
Lucius Apuleius
Vignette
Vignette
Full page
Vignette
## p. 11 (#25) ##############################################
II
PREFACE
el
(C
HE plan of this work is simple, and yet it is novel. In its dis-
tinctive features it differs from any compilation that has yet
been made. Its main purpose is to present to American
households a mass of good reading. But it goes much beyond this.
For in selecting this reading it draws upon all literatures of all time
and of every race, and thus becomes a conspectus of the thought
and intellectual evolution of man from the beginning. Another and
scarcely less important purpose is the interpretation of this literature
in essays by scholars and authors 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 culti
vation 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
## p. 12 (#26) ##############################################
I 2
subjects. Thus, in each volume a certain variety is secured, the
heaviness or sameness of a mass of antique, classical, or mediæval
material is avoided, and the reader obtains a sense of the varieties
and contrasts of different periods. But the work is not an encyclo-
pædia, 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 reading purposes, and reduce it to a herbarium of
specimens.
In order to present a view of the entire literary field, and to make
these volumes especially useful to persons who have not access to
large libraries, as well as to treat certain literatures or subjects when
the names of writers are unknown or would have no significance to
the reader, it has been found necessary to make groups of certain
nationalities, periods, and special topics. For instance, if the reader
would like to know something of ancient and remote literatures
which cannot well be treated under the alphabetical list of authors,
he will find special essays by competent scholars on the Accadian-
Babylonian literature, on the Egyptian, the Hindu, the Chinese, the
Japanese, the Icelandic, the Celtic, and others, followed by selections
many of which have been specially translated for this work. In
these literatures names of ascertained authors are given in the Index.
The intention of the essays is to acquaint the reader with the spirit,
purpose, and tendency of these writings, in order that he may have
a comparative view of the continuity of thought and the value of
tradition in the world. Some subjects, like the Arthurian Legends,
the Nibelungen Lied, the Holy Grail, Provençal Poetry, the Chansons
and Romances, and the Gesta Romanorum, receive a similar treat-
ment.
Single poems upon which the authors' title to fame mainly
rests, familiar and dear hymns, and occasional and modern verse of
value, are also grouped together under an appropriate heading, with
reference in the Index whenever the poet is known.
