Beacon Lights of History, Volume 13: Great Writers / Dr Lord's Uncompleted Plan, Supplemented with Essays by Emerson, Macaulay, Hedge, and Mercer Adam
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LORD'S LECTURES
AUTHOR OF THE OLD ROMAN WORLD, MODERN EUROPE, ETC., ETC.
DR LORD'S UNCOMPLETED PLAN, SUPPLEMENTED WITH ESSAYS BY EMERSON, MACAULAY, HEDGE, AND MERCER ADAM.
This being the last possible volume in the series of Beacon Lights of History from the pen of Dr. Lord, its readers will be interested to know that it contains all the lectures that he had completed (although not all that he had projected) for his review of certain of the chief Men of Letters. Lectures on other topics were found among his papers, but none that would perfectly fit into this scheme; and it was thought best not to attempt any collection of his material which he himself had not deemed worthy or appropriate for use in this series, which embodies the best of his life's work,--all of his books and his lectures that he wished to have preserved. For instance, The Old Roman World, enlarged in scope and rewritten, is included in the volumes on Old Pagan Civilizations, Ancient Achievements, and Imperial Antiquity; much of his Modern Europe reappears in Great Rulers, Modern European Statesmen, and European National Leaders, etc.
The consideration of Great Writers was reserved by Dr. Lord for his final task,--a task interrupted by death and left unfinished. In order to round out and complete this volume, recourse has been had to some other masters in literary art, whose productions are added to Dr. Lord's final writings.
In the present volume, therefore, are included the paper on Shakspeare by Emerson, reprinted from his Representative Men by permission of Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin & Co., the authorized publishers of Emerson's works; the famous essay on Milton by Macaulay; the principal portion--biographical and generally critical--of the article on Goethe, from Hours with the German Classics, by the late Dr. Frederic H. Hedge, by permission of Messrs. Little, Brown & Co., the publishers of that work; and a chapter on Tennyson: the Spirit of Modern Poetry, by G. Mercer Adam.