The War in America,
English Prose Fiction as a National Amusement,
The Higher Education of Women.
No dates or other details are given.
From the same source I borrow a statement that a study of Thackeray by Trollope, originally printed in the “Cornhill,” was republished as part of Theodore Taylor's book Thackeray: The Humourist and Man of Letters, which was issued in 1864. It is noticeable that Margaret Lavington speaks of the publisher of this book as Appleton of New York. A book of the same title by the same author was issued in the same year by Hotten of Piccadilly, and it is a fair presumption that the volumes are identical, but, although I have been carefully through the volume issued by Hotten, I cannot identify any section as contributed by Trollope.
FREDERICK MARRYAT
1792-1849
FREDERICK MARRYAT
The reputation of Captain Marryat has suffered at the hands of time somewhat differently from that of many of his contemporaries. Superficially he has fared better than they, for, if little read except by boys, he is at least acknowledged as a classic, and there are few adult novel readers who could not from their own childhood gather sufficient memories to characterize in summary some of his best known books.
Nevertheless, it is arguable that the forgotten author is happier than he who is accepted but unread. A revival of interest in the books of a man not already docketed and filed in the appreciation of his age may develop a new perspective. The body of his work may be exhumed and permanently lodged in its proper niche of the catacombs of literature. More hardly shall this befall such a one as Marryat, who is “placed” already as a writer of sea stories for boys and as an instructor in adventure for young people.
Who shall deny that he is all of this? His fame as a novelist of naval escapade, of risk and makeshift among pirates and barbarians, is fame deserved. The difficulty for one concerned to reappraise his work lies in the fact that there is more to him than is here implied. He is the only writer in the tradition of Fielding and Smollett who can claim consideration on the same plane as these famous authors. That he is overtopped by Tom Jones no one will dispute, but that he ranks with and not after Smollett is a contention that permits of argument.