Essays From Addison: Selected and Edited, With Introductions, Notes, Glossary, Etc (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Excerpt from Essays From Addison: Selected and Edited, With Introductions, Notes, Glossary, Etc

XVIII. -xix. Commend me to this dear preacher without orders - this parson in the tye-wig (thackeray). With the account Of Eugenius in no. XIX. Compare a charming paper by Goldsmith on The Man in Black (citizen of the World, no.

XX. One of the series of essays in which Addison called the attention Of his age to the greatness of Paradise Lost. Literary criticism, it must be remembered, was mainly (in spite of noble exceptions, such as Dryden's Prefaces) of the most pedantic sort: works of art were judged by their conformity to rules framed in accordance with a narrow and unintelligent study of the ancient critics. Addison's judgments, though some may now seem Obvious and others wrong, were in advance of his time.

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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.

Excerpt from Essays From Addison: Selected and Edited, With Introductions, Notes, Glossary, Etc

Noble English prose, and even noble English essays, had been written long before Addison. But we are justified in regarding Addison and his friend Steele as the founders of the modern English essay and modern English prose; and the larger share of the achievements was Addison's. It was he, more than any one else, who invented a "middle style," - something between the grave stately diction of formal writing and the free and easy speech of every day; a style suited, therefore, for addressing a wide circle of readers on a wide variety of subjects, unpretentious, admirably clear, dignified, but never stilted. This fact makes him still, as in Dr. Johnson's day, the best model for most of us. It is the "middle style" that is needed in almost all human intercourse - in the writing of essays, novels, histories, sermons, speeches, newspapers, letters; and even as a model for conversation, to prevent it sinking into the merely trivial and slipshod, a petty exchange of personal remarks expressed in indifferent English eked out by slang. None can show us better than "the dear parson in the tye-wig" how social intercourse may be bright and sparkling, yet elevated and elevating, with a tendency to increase the happiness of those who take part in it, and to check unworthy thoughts and feelings.

But such influence is often best when it is most unconsciously given and received.

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.