Publisher's Synopsis
From the PREFACE.
In a certain sense this book is the application of the method of literary investigation, employed in my book on "Dante and the English Poets," to a theme wider, subtler, and, it may be, of interest to a larger public.
It has been my constant effort, in writing it, to reduce to the lowest terms, compatible with a clear exposition of the theme, the very considerable body of notes, quotations, and reflections, which I have gathered together on the subject. As Pascal says of one of his "Lettres Provinciales," I could have made it shorter, if I had had more time.
As the book is intended, more or less, for the general reading public, I have not deemed it advisable to add a bibliography; if given, this would include practically all the important books accessible to me on the various phases of the topics discussed. In quoting Plato I have used Jowett's translation; the translations from Dante are usually given in Cary's version.
The preparation and the writing of the book has been a labor of love. Above all "I have sought to convince myself; to convince others is of secondary importance to me."
