Meredith's career as a writer of prose was opened, in 1856, with _The Shaving of Shagpat_, an experiment in fantastic Oriental romance. In the following year, he exploited German romance less successfully in _Farina, a Legend of Cologne_. Having thus trained his 'prentice hand, he passed to mastery of his craft in _The Ordeal of Richard Feverel_, published in 1859. This was his first modern novel, and probably his best. It showed him, not only expert in the use of language and original in literary technic, but distinguished, also, as an observer of the world and an analyst of character. The psychological novel of George Eliot, just emerging, found here a rival even more subtle. _Adam Bede_, a twin-birth with _Feverel_, although detailed in its exploration of motive and feeling, demanded less mental effort on the part of its readers; it accordingly attracted much greater attention. Whereas it was often reprinted, no second edition of _Feverel_ came from the press for nearly two decades. In the meantime, Meredith had continued his course undeterred by lack of popular approval, writing six other novels before the appearance, in 1879, of _The Egoist_--most characteristic of all. Two novels in particular reflected his experience of Italy, gained while acting there as war correspondent in 1866. The first was _Emilia in England_ (1864), later rechristened _Sandra Belloni_. The second was its sequel _Vittoria_ (1867). The other works of the period comprise the semi-farcical _Evan Harrington_ (1861); the serious _Rhoda Fleming_ (1865); the clever _Harry Richmond_ (1870-71); and Meredith's favorite--_Beauchamp's Career_ (1874-75). It is _The Egoist_, however, that most completely illustrates its author's conception of the novel of types. In this work, with rare skill and comic _elan_, if with a persistency a little wearisome, he lays bare the secrets of a heart and intellect thoroughly self-centered, proceeding so obviously from the desire to make out a case that he is likely to displease those who value story, yet satisfying those who enjoy brilliant comment on character and a study of its intricacies. In his later novels, Meredith never forgot the typical in attending to the particular, even though _The Tragic Comedians_ (1880) reflected incidents in the life of the socialist leader Lassalle, and _Diana of the Crossways_ (1885) certain traits of Sheridan's granddaughter, Mrs. Norton. _One of Our Conquerors_ (1891), _Lord Ormont and his Aminta_ (1894), and _The Amazing Marriage_ (1895) bring to a close the catalogue of Meredith's fiction, except for the unfinished _Celt and Saxon_ published after his death.