THE STORY OF HEREWARD Retold by DOUGLAS C. STEDMAN, B.A., with The Hound of Ulster. Retold from Celtic THE HIGH DEEDS OF FINN Retold from Celtic MSS. by T. W. ROLLESTON. STORIES FROM DANTE By SUSAN CUNNINGTON. With 16 Plates in STORIES FROM SHAKESPEARE Retold by Dr. THOMAS CARTER. With 16 Plates in Colour by G. D. HAMMOND, R.I. 288 pages FOLK TALES FROM MANY LANDS Retold by LILIAN GASK. With 1 HARALD, LAST OF THE VIKINGS By Captain CHARLES YOUNG. With 16 Plates in Collotype by G. D. HAMMOND, R.I. STORIES OF INDIAN GODS & HEROES Retold by W. D. MONRO, M.A. Plates in Colour by EVELYN PAUL THE BOYS' FROISSART With 16 Selected from Lord Berner's Translation of STORIES OF THE RETOLD BY THOMAS CARTER DOCTOR OF THEOLOGY AUTHOR OF "STORIES GERTRUDE DEMAIN HAMMOND R.I. GEORGE G. HARRAP & COMPANY c3 1912b MAIN I' Preface T is inevitable, in retelling the stories of Shakespeare's English Kings, that we should recall the names of Charles and Mary Lamb. These gifted authors are associated immortally with Shakespeare, and their Tales must remain a classic for youthful readers, to whom a simple prose rendering is of great value as an introduction to the genius of our greatest poet. The Histories, however, were not included in the Tales, hence there is opportunity for an endeavour to provide a prose version of this attractive section of the great plays. Beginning with the period before the Roman invader came to our shores, and passing through the times of Plantagenet and Tudor to the opening days of Elizabeth, Shakespeare has presented in his wonderful series an almost complete view of the great figures of English history, indicating with a sure touch the movements, crises, and turning-points of our national development. The canvas is a crowded one, but there is no superfluous figure, and from the king to the peasant he holds the mirror of genius up to Nature and reflects life. The inner significance has been well indicated by Walter Pater. "True, on the whole, to fact, it is another side of kingship which he has made 274043 prominent in his English histories. The irony of kingship-average human nature, flung with a wonderfully pathetic effect into the vortex of great events; tragedy of everyday quality heightened in degree only by the conspicuous scene which does but make those who play their part there conspicuously unfortunate; the utterance of common humanity straight from the heart, but refined like other common things for kingly uses by Shakespeare's unfailing eloquence: such, unconsciously for the most part, though palpably enough to the careful reader, is the conception under which Shakespeare has arranged the lights and shadows of the story of the English Kings, emphasising merely the light and shadow inherent in it, and keeping very close to the original authorities, not simply in the general outline of these dramatic histories, but sometimes in their very expression." The story of King Lear properly belongs to this group, but it has already appeared in the author's companion volume, Stories from Shakespeare. In both books the poet's verse has frequently been printed where the lines are so simple that it is unnecessary to paraphrase them. From these quotations the youthful reader will learn something of the glamour of the wonderful originals, and the author trusts that the examples given will make boys and girls eager to read more of the poet's own work in due season-in other words, that the books will prove to be for many a veritable Gateway to Shakespeare. |