British criticisms of American works overrated

The Doctor is an absurd hoax.

the cause of America's reverence for classic British poetry

Bulwer's merits and demerits

In historical fiction G. P. R. James is merely a competent, conventional follower of Scott.

The excess of books today obstructs the path of ready learning.

John Wilson is imaginative, bold, energetic in creative works but superficial in criticism.

Basil Hall's elegant, piquant trifles

Marvell's fawn poem praised for its pathos

Petrarch admirable not as a supreme poet but as a republican patriot and savior of antique treasures

plagiarists more detestable than pickpockets for pride in undeserved fame

Byron's childhood sweetheart, Mary Chaworth, was his everlasting ideal.

Paulding's biography of Washington is basic, unaffected, comprehensive, well written and ideal for youth.

the wonderful imagination and pathos of Dickens' Curiosity Shop

Articles require more compositional ability than novels.

Physical and non-physical worlds are sometimes analagous.

Thomas Moore undervalued because prolific

Pue's epistolary grammar text, following Cobbett's, is full of errors and misdefines the word grammar.

Lord Brougham's ambitious attempts and achievements too broad and varied for lasting eminence

Dickens, a natural genius; Bulwer, an ingenious artist [page lvi:]

in Robinson Crusoe Defoe's genius undervalued

Authors of fiction seek to exploit potent audience sympathy in the readership situation.

Heber, unoriginal as poet, but a fine scholar

two types of originality of characters worthy of praise

Tucker's George Balcombe, of Godwin's school of fiction, is our best novel.