Study of Prose Fiction

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. On the contrary, wherever an allu sion to the writings of masters like Scott and Thackeray and Hawthorne would serve the purpose, I have given myself the pleasure of such illustration, knowing that their books will continue to be read long after the novels of the year have faded out of memory.