An invaluable collection of essays on literary criticism by Henry A. Beers, a 19th-century author, literary historian, poet, and professor at Yale University. Beers produced multiple works, including scholarly studies of literature, biographies, and volumes of poetry. He is most famous for his works on the historical development of literature.

Contents include:

The Connecticut Wits

The Singer of the Old Swimmin' Hole

Emerson's Journals

The Art of Letter Writing

Thackeray's Centenary

Retrospects and Prospects of the English Drama

Sheridan

The Poetry of the Cavaliers

Abraham Cowley

Milton's Tercentenary

Shakespeare's Contemporaries.