Sketches of the History of Literature From the Earliest Period to the Revival of Letters in ... Book

A study in rhythm as well as an invaluable anthology. I know of no other work that treats of prose rhythm and it would appear the author knows of none, either. He has a very idiosyncratic way of treating his subject which opens the way to holes, flaws, and inconsistencies; the book contains little to no information on:

- American writers
- women writers (no more than a few paragraphs for Austen, George Eliot, and Charlotte Bronte)
- some authors, such as Thackeray and Dryden, given too much focus, while others like Dickens given too little and others (Samuel Pepys) given none at all

The book was published in 1912, which would explain the lack of diversity. The formatting is also convoluted. The author provides an appendix of notes of rhythmic axioms, inferences, and suggestions in the style of "gradation in such successive end-feet - anapest, iamb, long syllable - were especially powerful and grateful" but seldom gives much in the way of comment for why the beauty of one prose style trumps that of another (the golden rule is variety of rhythm, but this is not the case for early English writers or for the 'conversational' style of novelists).

I bought this book after seeing it referenced in an annotated edition of Joyce's "Ulysses" (Chapter 14). This is a very subjective and idiosyncratic reference with some rather odd choices in both authors and in scansion, but its usefulness far outweighs its flaws. Finished it in a week and will be returning to it often. Would recommend to anyone with any interest in literature