Release date is 2004-10-16

Mr. Pepys -- John Bunyan -- Thomas Campion -- John Donne -- Horace Walpole -- William Cowper -- A note on Elizabethan plays -- The office of the poets -- Edward Young as critic -- Gray and Collins -- Aspects of Shelley -- The wisdom of Coleridge -- Tennyson: a temporary criticism -- The politics of Swift and Shakespeare -- The personality of Morris -- George Meredith -- Oscar Wilde -- Two English critics: Mr. Saintsbury. Mr. Gosse -- An American critic: Professor Irving Babbit -- Georgians -- Labour of authorship -- The theory of poetry -- The critic as destroyer -- Book reviewing.

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"The Art of Letters" by Robert Lynd is a critical collection focused on literary figures and their impact, written in the early 20th century. The work appears to examine writers from various periods, including Samuel Pepys, John Bunyan, and others, highlighting their unique contributions to literature as well as their personal lives and philosophies. Through Lynd's insightful analysis, readers gain a deeper understanding of not only the writers’ works but also the historical and cultural contexts in which they wrote. The opening of the book introduces the first chapter, which centers on Samuel Pepys, the famed 17th-century diarist. Lynd portrays Pepys as a complex character—part Puritan, part hedonist—who passionately chronicled both his mundane daily experiences and his more indulgent pursuits in a detailed diary. The narrative showcases Pepys's struggles with his faith, morality, and personal relationships, portraying him as a man caught between strict societal expectations and his desires. Throughout this exploration, Lynd effectively illustrates Pepys’s dual nature and the intricate interplay of his private and public personas. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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