It is presumptuous for a writer to assert the worth of his own wares: it is permitted to him to declare only his intentions. Much has been written on the novel in the past few years. It has come to be recognized at its best as an important branch of literary art, but its flexibility is such as resolutely to resist definition. The design of this book has been in Part One to set forth the essentials of fiction about which there can be no dispute. In what follows, great books and authors from 1700 to the present day are interpreted with a view to ascertaining what has been the main drift of fiction, and for the purpose of estimating current tendencies. A biographical and bibliographical section is appended which establishes the essential facts about the thirty-eight major authors presented and provides full material for further investigation of their work.

The book is issued in two editions. A feature of the College edition is a series of working suggestions that may form a satisfactory basis for class discussions and theme work.

PELHAM EDGAR

VICTORIA COLLEGE University of Toronto . . .