CHARACTERISTICS OF LITERATURE, ILLUSTRATED BY THE Genius of Distinguished Men. BY HENRY T. TUCKERMAN. AUTHOR OF "THE ITALIAN SKETCH-BOOK," "ISABEL, OR A PILGRIMAGE THROUGH SICILY," Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, BY LINDSAY AND BLAKISTON, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. PHILADELPHIA: C. SHERMAN, PRINTER, 19 St. James Street. Preface. THE favorable reception of two previous attempts at a series of analytical portraits-one devoted to celebrated poets, and the other to some of our native painters has induced the publication of this volume. Its design is to indicate the chief phases of the literary character. The subjects have been selected from their adaptation to this general plan, and with the hope that, at a time when the influence of Continental writers is so prevalent, a few illustrative criticisms drawn from the rich field of English literature, may prove acceptable. NEW YORK, May 1849. |