The Living Authors Of Great Britain And Ireland PDF Download

Excerpt from The Living Authors of Great Britain and Ireland: Comprising Literary Memoirs and Anecdotes of Their Lives; And a Chronological Register of Their Publications, With the Number of Editions Printed, Including Notices of Some Foreign Writers Whose Works Have Been Occasionally Published in England; Illustrat No person who has had any acquaintance with books can be insensible to the difficulties which obstruct the inquirer in his search after information concerning the lives and productions of those who have enlarged the sphere of science, or who have contributed to the stock of rational amusement. Even of such as have attained the highest degree of reputation, we have frequently to lament the want of correct and minute intelligence, the knowledge of which would increase our admiration and improvement, by enabling us to form a more exact estimate of their moral and literary character than can be drawn from the meagre memorials which have been handed down to us by their contemporaries. Few are the names recorded in the history of literature, of whom it can be said that biography is exhausted; for of numbers whose works yield instruction and entertainment, not the least record can be found. Modern industry indeed has been usefully employed in rescuing forgotten merit from total oblivion, and in restoring to their proper owners valuable pieces, which either ignorance or want of taste had cast aside amidst the lumber of the schools and the extravagancies of fanaticism. Still much remains to stimulate the diligent to fresh exertions; for such has been the carelessness of the two preceding centuries, with respect to their brightest ornaments, that no one who shall devote a portion of his time to the task of illustrating their personal history, or of ascertaining the number and description of their writings, will labor in vain. But at least the negligence of which we complain affords a lesson of caution with regard to existing genius, that those who come after us may not have reason to bring against us a similar accusation. The advanced state of knowledge, with the consequent multiplication of books on all subjects, and the facility that is given to every species of inquiry, may truly be said to constitute the triumph of literature; but, like every other honorable triumph, it brings in its train as many duties as trophies, that what has been laboriously acquired may become permanently beneficial. In proportion, therefore, as science is extended and the love of it increases, it is necessary to provide helps for those who want immediate information on the pursuits and merits of the numerous candidates for literary fame. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.