Seven of the following chapters, including all in the introductory
and concluding sections, are here printed for the first time. Fourteen
chapters were first published, in whole or in part, in the following
magazines: The New England Quarterly, The Pacific Spectator, Col-
lege English, American Literature, The University of Kansas City Re-
view and PMLA. I am indebted to the editors of these magazines for
permission to reprint. The chapter on Emerson is rewritten from the
author's Introduction to the Emerson volume of the American Writ-
ers Series. I am indebted to The American Book Co. for permission to
use this material.

I acknowledge my debt to the many writers who have contributed
to the interpretations of this book, but for the most part I have in-
dicated this debt in the text and notes. I would thank especially
Professor C. C. Walcutt of Queens College, Professor Henry A.
Myers of Cornell University, and Professors Henry Nash Smith and
James D. Hart of the University of California for their advice in the
preparation of the book.

F.I.C.
Berkeley, California

-vii-