Great Essays of All Nations/Preface

In this volume an attempt has been made, not to present a more or less haphazard collection of elegant extracts, but to illustrate the development of one of the most important forms that literature has assumed. The essay, because it is homely and unpretentious, has often been belittled and any special significance denied to it. That anybody can write essays sums up a view which is all too common. At best they are often held to be but the odds and ends that fall from the writer’s table as he is engaged upon the larger matters that really count. The main purpose of the present collection is to show that, on the contrary, the essay is one of the oldest literary forms, and that its vitality and importance have increased with the years. It has played a part, indeed, in the spread of culture and common sense that could hardly have been filled by any of the more ambitious kinds of literature. This is believed to be the first attempt to illustrate the growth of the essay by a really comprehensive selection drawn from the principal literatures of the world.

In the work of selection the editor acknowledges with gratitude the help he has received from the many experts who have been good enough to show a keen interest in his project. Special mention must be made of the following, each of whom has given invaluable assistance with the section indicated: Dr. E. J. Thomas, of the University Library, Cambridge (Ancient India); Mr. Reuben Levy, Lecturer in Persian at Cambridge University (Persia and Arabia); Mr. Arthur Waley (China); Mr. Gonnoské Komai (Japan); Dr. Denis Saurat, of the Institut Français, London (France); Dr. Camillo Pellizzi, of University College, London (Italy); Dr. William Rose, of King’s College, London (Germany); Dr. J. F. de Wilde, of Amsterdam (Holland); Mr. Eskil Sundström (Sweden); Mr. H. K. Lehmkuhl and Mr. Johan Bojer (Norway); Mr. J. H. Helweg, of University College, London (Denmark); Mme. Aino Kallas (Finland and Estonia); Prince D. S. Mirsky (Russia); Dr. Otakar Vočadlo (Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, and Jugo-Slavia); and M. Marcu Beza (Roumania).

In compiling the biographical notes and introductions many works have been consulted, including Botta’s Handbook of Universal Literature, Moulton’s Modern Study of Literature, The Modern Readers’ Bible, and The Literary Study of the Bible, W. H. Hudson’s Introduction to the Study of Literature, Chambers’ Biographical Dictionary, Manly and Rickert’s Contemporary British Literature and Contemporary American Literature, and Legouis and Cazamian’s History of English Literature. ​Wherever possible the source and authorship of translations have been indicated. Many of the essays have been specially translated for this volume and the editor wishes to express his indebtedness in this respect to Dr. E. J. Thomas; Mr. Reuben Levy, M.A.; Miss Dorothy Margaret Stuart; Mr. J. W. Jeaffreson, M.A.; Miss Ena Makin, M.A.; Dr. William Rose; Miss J. F. de Wilde, D.Litt.; Miss M. Guiterman; Mrs. Elizabeth Sprigge; Mrs. Ellen Lehmkuhl; Mr. J. Krzyżanowski; Mr. F. P. Casey; Miss Dora Round; Mr. Josif Torbarina; and the Hon. Mrs. Lucy Byng.

Acknowledgement of the courtesy of those authors and publishers who have granted the necessary permissions for reprinting copyright work has been made in the biographical notes introducing each essay.