ADVERTISEMENT. THE author of the papers now collected for the first time, prepared, last winter, at the request of a gentleman in this country, a list of his miscellaneous writings arranged in the order of time in which they first appeared in various literary journals. That list has been exactly followed in the present work, excepting that one additional article, known to be his, has been inserted, which, it is presumed, the author omitted accidentally. Of these papers, the present volumes comprise the first half. Two more volumes will hereafter be published, which will absorb the remainder. Then add, the Translation of Wilhelm Meister (3 vols. 12mo. London, 1824); the Life of Schiller (1 vol. 8vo. London, 1825); German Romance (4 vols. 12mo. London, 1827); Sartor Resartus (1 vol. 12mo. Boston, 1835); and the History of the French Revolution (3 vols. 8vo. London, 1837); and the Catalogue of his works will be complete up to the present time. The interest with which the publication of this work has been demanded, makes the Editor sure of its welcome. Mr. Carlyle's recent works have made him known as a writer to numbers to whom the essays in these volumes will be new. But many readers will here find pages which, in the scattered anonymous sheets of the British magazines, spoke to their youthful mind with an emphasis that hindered them from sleep. It is a fact worth remembering in our literary history, that his rich and cheerful genius found its earliest audience in or near New England, from young men who had complained with the first Quaker, that, in the multitude of teachers, none spake to their condition.' Such will be glad to trace in this collection the spiritual history of the author, the course of his reading, the depth of his studies, and what outward materials went to the edification of the man. Mr. Carlyle has repeatedly expressed, in letters to the editor and other friends, his satisfaction in the good reception his literary labors have found in this country, and the love and hope with which he regards the progress of thought and culture on this side the Atlantic. R. W. E. Concord, June 24, 1838. |