NOTE

There are many aids to the study of poets and of their works in these days, and, in many cases, these aids are so intelligently prepared that they are, for their purpose, worthy of all praise. For the most part, however, these aids deal mainly, often exclusively, with matters presented by the text; with the exact meanings of the words, with references and allusions of all kinds, so that everything appears in clear light except the poet himself. Now the poet is the chief factor in his work, the determining factor. To know him is to bring to his work the secret of its power, of its charm, of its unique quality, whatever that may be. It must never be forgotten, moreover, that the end of all knowledge of books is to freshen and deepen

the power to put the movement of life in them, and to enjoy the beauty which that stir of life takes on; in other words, to find joy in the art of the book. These are precisely the ends served by such a portraiture of a man and of his age as Mr. Jenks has made in his study of Chaucer. He has freshened our sense of the humanity of the poet, and he has so recovered the form and dress of a past age, that he has freshened our delight in his work. This series is to be extended to include similar books dealing with Shakespeare, Milton, Scott, and perhaps other writers, and can hardly fail to supplement in a very happy way the many admirable aids to the study of these writers. HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE, (From the introduction to "In the Days of Chaucer.")