Page:A history of booksellers, the old and the new.djvu/304

264 264 CHAMBERS, KNIGHT, AND CASSELL. sanguine friends of improvement could not in 1826 have hoped to witness in twenty years." In 1843, Mr. Knight had published his "Life of Shakespeare," a work by which, as a valuable history of Elizabethan times, and a charming, though neces- sarily an imaginary, sketch of our greatest poet, the author will, we think, though multitudinous in his writings, be most distinctly remembered. His edition of Shakespeare, which for reverent love and editorial labour is almost unrivalled, has appeared in various guises, as the " Popular," the " Library," the "National," the "Cabinet" (three editions), the "Medium" (three editions), and the "Stratford" (three editions). By far the most remarkable of Mr. Knight's labours, and perhaps the most useful, was his "Shilling Volumes for all Readers" (1844- 1 849), 1 86 volumes, i6mo., in all; for though his editorial labours were terminated when about two-thirds of the work was completed, he still considered himself responsible as regards the general character of the works. " I may confidently state," he says, " that in this extensive series, no single work, and no portion of a work, can be found that may not safely be put into the hands of the young and unin- formed, with the security that it will neither mislead nor corrupt." In a postscript to the last volume he adds : " I now venture to believe that I have accom- plished what I proposed to do. First, I have endeavoured to produce a series of books which comprehends some- thing like the range of literature which all well-educated persons desire to have at their command." Without attempting any very exact classification of the various subjects of the volumes, they may be thus distributed into large departments of knowledge :