" That such a quantity of good literature by so
able a writer as Lowell should have been allowed to repose buried in the
files of old magazines so long is rather unfortunate. The fact that
Lowell did not collect them is a tribute to his modesty, a tribute all
the more worthy in these days when some writers of ephemeral reviews on
ephemeral books think it their duty to collect their opinions in book
form.
The essays herein represent the matured author as they were written in
the latter part of his life, between his thirty-sixth and fifty-seventh
years. The only early essay is the one on Poe. It appeared in _Graham's
Magazine_ for February, 1845, and was reprinted by Griswold in his
edition of Poe. It has also been reprinted in later editions of Poe, but
has never been included in any of Lowell's works. This was no doubt due
to the slight break in the relations between Poe and Lowell, due to
Poe's usual accusations of plagiarism. The essay still remains one of
the best on Poe ever written.
Though Lowell became in later life quite conservative and academic, it
should not be thought that these essays show no sympathy with liberal
ideas. He was also appreciative of the first works of new writers, and
had good and prophetic insight. His favorable reviews of the first works
of Howells and James, and the subsequent career of these two men,
indicate the sureness of Lowell's critical mind.
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