Publisher's Synopsis
From the Preface.
THE first seven of these ten pieces show Sir Walter Besant's early interest in French writers and French history, medieval and modern. He has described in his Autobiography how, during his term of office as Professor in the Royal College of Mauritius from 1861 to 1867, he was thrown in contact with colleagues who stimulated in him the desire to become thoroughly acquainted with French literature. In consequence he read French widely and deeply, and on his return to England made a start in his career as a man of letters by contributing essays upon his chosen subject to various magazines. These papers-a selection of which are published here, while others have appeared in volume form previously-attracted considerable attention by their display of sympathetic knowledge, and secured for their author a position among his brother writers before the publication of fiction obtained for him popular recognition.
The last three pieces in this volume, written at intervals varying from ten to twenty years later, show Sir Walter Besant's absorbing interest in the craft of writing, and his jealousy for the status of the man of letters. An International Copyright Act between this country and America has come into being since his reflections upon literary piracy, and in several other directions the circumstances have altered from what they were when he described them; but reference to the dates at which the papers were published, which in a J cases are affixed, will make the position quite clear to the reader.
The collection of pieces illustrates well the twofold direction of Sir Walter Besant's activity. He appears as a man of letters and a man of affairs; as a lover of romance and a fighter for practical reforms.
