A Brief Handbook of English Authors — Story, Setting & Ideas

Alphabetical Structure and Selective Coverage

The handbook's alphabetical arrangement from A to Z (with a link table for first letters) imposes a straightforward, dictionary-like order. Entries vary widely in length and detail. Some, like that for Sir Richard Lovelace, note his verse is 'principally amatory' and name two famous poems. Others, like the entry for George MacDonald, offer a critical assessment: 'His work is all of an earnest, religious cast, but marred sometimes by mannerisms and vagueness of touch.' The selection is not exhaustive; Adams acknowledges that 'even so small a work must necessarily contain many names that have achieved this conventional immortality.' The handbook thus functions as a curated list, prioritizing authors deemed significant by late-19th-century standards.

Critical Voice and Evaluative Language

Adams does not shy from opinion. John Lydgate is dismissed as 'an exceedingly diffuse rhymer.' Macaulay's History of England is called 'a superb piece of writing but it lacks the calm impartiality that a history should possess.' John Lyly's Euphues is remembered for its 'great influence' on speech, though Lyly is called 'pedantic and fantastic.' These judgments are embedded in entries that also list publications and further reading. The tone is brisk and sometimes tart, reflecting a personal critical stance within a reference format. The preface's remark that 'the iniquity of oblivion blindly scattereth her poppy' sets a literary, slightly melancholic frame for the selections that follow.

Paratextual Apparatus: Publisher Abbreviations and Cross-References

Following the preface, Adams includes a list of 'Publishers Referred to in This Volume' with abbreviations (e.g., 'Hou.' for Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 'Mac.' for Macmillan & Co.). This key allows the reader to decode the publication codes appended to many entries. For example, the entry for Sir John Lubbock ends with 'Pub. Apl. Mac.,' indicating Appleton and Macmillan. The handbook also includes cross-references, such as 'Lyndsay. See Lindsay, David.' This apparatus suggests the book was intended for active consultation, perhaps by students or general readers seeking to locate editions or further works. The inclusion of multiple publishers for a single author (e.g., Macaulay's entry lists eight) underscores the handbook's practical bent.

Movement Between Eras and Genres

The entries span from the medieval period (John Lydgate, b. 1370) to contemporaries of Adams's own time (George MacDonald, b. 1824; Sir John Lubbock, b. 1834). The handbook moves fluidly between poets, novelists, historians, scientists, and theologians. Sir Charles Lyell, a geologist, appears alongside the dramatist John Lyly. This juxtaposition reflects a broad conception of 'English authors' that includes naturalists and philosophers. The entries often note an author's primary field—'Naturalist,' 'Geologist,' 'Scotch novelist and poet'—and then list major works. The result is a panorama of English letters as understood in the late 19th century, with an emphasis on canonical figures but room for lesser-known names like Mark Antony Lower, author of English Surnames.

Adams's handbook rewards browsing as much as targeted lookup. The reader can trace how a single compiler weighed literary merit, from the 'perfect' songs of Lovelace to the 'diffuse' rhymes of Lydgate. The work's structure—alphabetical, with evaluative entries and publication codes—mirrors the practical reference aims stated in the preface. For modern readers, it offers a snapshot of late-Victorian literary taste and the mechanics of a portable biographical dictionary.

Sometimes a book stays with you less for its grand pronouncements than for the quiet honesty of its preface—how it admits that fame is partly luck. That same humility surfaces in The Translations of Beowulf: A Critical Bibliography — Context and Discussion, where every effort feels like a small echo of chance. I found myself thinking of that old handbook late at night, and here was its gentle companion.