Note: Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See https://archive.org/details/menwomenbooks00birruoft ESSAYS ABOUT MEN, WOMEN, AND BOOKS * * * * * * WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR. _CHEAP EDITION. In square crown 8vo., appropriately bound, 2s. 6d. net._ IN THE NAME OF THE BODLEIAN, AND OTHER ESSAYS. ‘These delightful essays possess all the characteristics which have given their author a special place in modern literary criticism.’--_Daily News._ ‘Mr. Birrell delights us on every page when he comes before us as essayist. “In the Name of the Bodleian” is a worthy companion to “Obiter Dicta.”’--_Daily Telegraph._ _CHEAP and UNIFORM EDITION, price 2s. 6d. each; also ORIGINAL EDITIONS, 5s. each._ OBITER DICTA. First Series. OBITER DICTA. Second Series. ESSAYS ABOUT MEN, WOMEN, & BOOKS. RES JUDICATÆ. _SECOND EDITION. In fcap. 8vo., cloth, price 5s._ MISCELLANIES. _LIBRARY EDITION. In 2 vols., crown 8vo., bound in cloth, 12s._ COLLECTED ESSAYS. Vol. I. contains: OBITER DICTA. Series I. OBITER DICTA. Series II. Vol. II. contains: MEN, WOMEN, AND BOOKS. RES JUDICATÆ. ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, E.C. * * * * * * MEN, WOMEN, AND BOOKS by AUGUSTINE BIRRELL Author of ‘Obiter Dicta,’ etc. London: Elliot Stock 62, Paternoster Row, E.C. 1910 CONTENTS PAGE DEAN SWIFT 1 LORD BOLINGBROKE 16 STERNE 28 DR. JOHNSON 38 RICHARD CUMBERLAND 47 ALEXANDER KNOX AND THOMAS DE QUINCEY 58 HANNAH MORE 70 MARIE BASHKIRTSEFF 81 SIR JOHN VANBRUGH 96 JOHN GAY 109 ROGER NORTH’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY 121 BOOKS OLD AND NEW 134 BOOK-BINDING 147 POETS LAUREATE 157 PARLIAMENTARY CANDIDATES 167 THE BONÂ-FIDE TRAVELLER 176 ‘HOURS IN A LIBRARY’ 189 AMERICANISMS AND BRITICISMS 199 AUTHORS AND CRITICS 210 DEAN SWIFT. Of writing books about Dean Swift there is no end. I make no complaint, because I find no fault; I express no wonder, for I feel none. The subject is, and must always remain, one of strange fascination. We have no author like the Dean of St. Patrick’s. It has been said of Wordsworth that good-luck usually attended those who have written about him. The same thing may be said, with at least equal truth, about Swift. There are a great many books about him, and with few exceptions they are all interesting.