| Dr. Johnson | [Frontispiece] |
| From an engraving by T. Trotter after a drawing from life |
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| John Milton | Facing p. | [4] |
| From a miniature by Faithorne |
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| William Shakespeare | " | [16] |
| From an engraving by Scriven after the Chandos portrait |
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| Alexander Pope | " | [33] |
| From an engraving by J. Posselwhite after the picture by Hudson |
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| Oliver Goldsmith | " | [81] |
| After a drawing by Sir Joshua Reynolds |
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| Sir Joshua Reynolds | " | [96] |
| From an engraving after his own portrait |
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| James Boswell | " | [102] |
| From an engraving by W. Hall after a sketch by Lawrence |
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| John Keats | " | [144] |
| From a drawing by W. Hilton |
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| Thomas de Quincey | " | [176] |
| From an engraving by W. H. Moore |
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| Lord Byron | " | [193] |
| From a painting by Thomas Phillips, R.A. |
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| Charles Lamb | " | [224] |
| From the painting by William Hazlitt |
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| Thomas Hood | " | [241] |
| From an engraving by W. H. Smith |
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| Thomas Carlyle | " | [280] |
| From a painting by Sir John Millais |
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| W. M. Thackeray | " | [305] |
| From a pencil sketch by Count D’Orsay |
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| Charles Dickens | " | [320] |
| From a black and white drawing by Baughiet, 1858 |
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| Robert Browning | " | [338] |
| From a photograph |