A HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

Peter Quennell's A History of English Literature is a reference book, but it is known as one that people actually read straight through.

From a review: "This book is a delight. Quennell is besotted by the English language and he presents to the reader a procession of gifted wordsmiths both famous and obscure, from the dawn of British literature to the present. You will be introduced to a full array of English eccentrics, including the poet who permitted his farm animals to roam free in his vicarage, and chose this as an opportunity to teach his pig to drink from a tankard. We travel to to the Mermaid Tavern, where Ben Johnson and Donne and Will Shakespeare met for ale. Quennell's knowledge is prodigious and his judgements are both fresh and reasoned; the text is well-illustrated."

This is a first edition, unread, unopened.

512 pages, heavily illustrated.

Outside, it is almost perfect--there is a little white spot at the top of the back cover. No dust jacket.

Inside, it is in pristine condition.