The compilation of a book of selections leaves the editors indebted to many people whom they are powerless to repay. Acknowledgment of permissions to use material has been made in the body of the text, and we are sincerely grateful to those authors and publishers whose kindness has made our work both possible and pleasant. We have profited greatly by suggestions and criticisms from practically every member of the staff of Sophomore Composition at the University of Minnesota. Furthermore we owe especial thanks to Mr. Joseph M. Thomas of the University of Minnesota, for his kind encouragement and generous assistance; to Miss Marjorie Nicolson, of Goucher College, for her timely advice and counsel; and to those students in Narrative Writing who consciously and unconsciously have cooperated with us, and whose enthusiasm and responsiveness in the class room have been our constant inspiration in this work. M. E. C. F. DEL. P. FOREWORD This volume is a companion to Miss Nicolson’s _The Art of Description_. They constitute the beginning of a series which, when completed, will furnish new illustrative material for the various types of writing. The purpose in planning such a series was first, of course, to provide specimens for analysis and for use as models that would be unhackneyed both to teacher and students. Second, there was the desire to put before the students examples of current if not contemporary practice in so far as it was possible to secure permission to reprint them. But most important of all was the intent to stimulate the imagination of both teacher and student by including many different kinds of writing which have been neglected in the more conventional volumes of illustrative material. The editors of this volume have been most happy in their choice of material to carry out these three purposes. Out of the large number of selections reprinted there are only three, from Macaulay, Froude, and Parkman, which may be considered as classics; and these three are all illustrative of “Historical Narrative.” Of the more modern there is only one, John Corbin’s _A Day in an Oxford College_, which I recall as having appeared in a similar volume. A glance at the names of the authors in the Table of Contents will suffice to show to what extent the work of contemporary writers has been used. It is, I hope, not improper for me to call the attention of those who have had no experience in the editing of books of this kind to the increasing difficulty--and expense--of securing permission to reprint copyrighted material. The work of the editors of this volume has been more than doubled by their inability to reprint a large part of what they had originally chosen. Under these circumstances they are to be congratulated on their achievement.