are, may be regarded as but incidental productions when compared with the one great literary task of his life, expressed in his "English Writers." Of this work, Vol. I., Part I., "The Celts and Anglo-Saxons," and Vol. I., Part II., "From the Conquest to Chaucer," appeared in 1864; while Vol. II., Part I., "From Chaucer to Dunbar," appeared in 1867.
I must not close this Preface without recording here some grateful, even if inadequate, mention of the painstaking and generous assistance I have received, while this book has been passing through the press, from my friend and associate, Professor Isaac N. Demmon. In many important ways the book has been improved by his good taste, his trained literary judg ment, and his wide and accurate scholarship.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, ANN ARBOR,