A short collection of prefaces in which early writers of prose fiction explained and justified what they were doing. It includes Georges de Scudéry’s preface to Ibrahim, or the Illustrious Bassa, Mrs. Manley’s preface to The Secret History of Queen Zarah, and pieces by William Warburton, Samuel Derrick and the Marquis d’Argens, with an introduction by Benjamin Boyce.
Useful primary sources on the rise of the novel for students of English and French fiction. Download the free EPUB.