This book is based on the fourteen volumes of The Cambridge History of English Literature. Each chapter (except the last) takes for its subject-matter the volume that bears its title and reference to the parent work is therefore easy. Paragraphs and sentences in their original form have been incorporated into the narrative when such treatment seemed desirable and practicable. Naturally much that appeared in the large-scale History finds no place in the present limited survey. The matter most generally left undiscussed is that relating to sources and foreign affiliations. In a first sketch this is not important. The reader must begin to know famous books themselves before he begins to acquire information about their supposed ancestry.