A Literary History of the English People
BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
ENGLISH WAYFARING LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES (XIVth Century). Translated byL. T. Smith. Revised and Enlarged by the Author. 4th Edition. 61Illustrations. Large crown 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d.
"An extremely fascinating book."—Times.
THE ENGLISH NOVEL IN THE TIME OF SHAKESPEARE.
Translated by E. Lee. Revised and Enlarged by the Author. Illustrated by6 Heliogravures by Dujardin, and 21 full-page and many smallerillustrations. 3rd Edition. Large crown 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d.
"One of the brightest, most scholarly, and most interesting volumes ofliterary history."—Speaker.
A FRENCH AMBASSADOR AT THE COURT OF CHARLES II.: Le Comte de Cominges,from his unpublished correspondence.
10 Portraits. Second Edition. Large crown 8vo, cloth, 7s. 6d.
"The whole book is delightful reading."—Spectator.
PIERS PLOWMAN: A Contribution to the History of English Mysticism.
Translated by M. E. R. Revised and Enlarged by the Author. Illustrated.Demy 8vo, cloth, 12s.
"This masterly interpretation of an epoch-making book."—Standard.
London: T. FISHER UNWIN.
HÉLIOG DUJARDIN IMP.CH.WITTMANN PARISMEDIÆVAL LONDON
from manuscript 16 F. II in the British Museum
A Literary History of
The English People
from the Origins
To the Renaissance
By
J. J. Jusserand
London
T. Fisher Unwin
Mdcccccv
Many histories have preceded this one; many others will come after. Suchis the charm of the subject that volunteers will never be lacking toundertake this journey, so hard, so delightful too.
As years go on, the journey lengthens: wider grows the field, furtheradvance the seekers, and from the top of unexplored headlands, throughmorning mists, they descry the outlines of countries till then unknown.They must be followed to realms beyond the grave, to the silent domainsof the dead, across barren moors and frozen fens, among chill rushes andbriars that never blossom, till those Edens of poetry are reached, theechoes of which, by a gift of fairies or of muses, still vibrate to themelody of voices long since hushed.
More has been done during the last fifty years to shed light on theorigins than in all the rest of modern times. Deciphering, annotating,printing, have gone on at an extraordinary pace and withoutinterruption; the empire of letters has thus been enlarged, according tothe chances of the explorers' discoveries, by gardens and deserts,cloudy immensities, and boundless forests; its limits have receded intospace: at least so it seems to us. We laugh at the simplicity of honestRobertson, who in the last century wondered at the superabundance ofhistorical documents accessible in his time: the day is not far distant