Popular American essayist, novelist, and journalist CHARLES DUDLEY
WARNER (1829-1900) was renowned for the warmth and intimacy of his
writing, which encompassed travelogue, biography and autobiography,
fiction, and more, and influenced entire generations of his fellow
writers. Here, the prolific writer turned editor for his final grand
work, a splendid survey of global literature, classic and modern, and
it's not too much to suggest that if his friend and colleague Mark
Twain-who stole Warner's quip about how "everybody complains about the
weather, but nobody does anything about it"-had assembled this set, it
would still be hailed today as one of the great achievements of the book
world. Highlights from Volume 23 include: . the poems of Gotthold
Ephraim Lessing . the speeches of Abraham Lincoln . the science writing
of Linnaeus . the philosophy of John Locke . the poetry of Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow . selections from Pierre Loti's An Iceland
Fisherman . the nature writing of Sir John Lubbock . and much, much
more.