(RECAP)
47021

2

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1880, by J. W. SHOEMAKER & CO.,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington, D. C.

PREFACE.

HE unprecedented number of advance orders for the

THE

ANNUAL, and the many inquiries concerning

issue, table of contents, etc., give us assurance that we

are supplying a popular want in its publication, and that the ANNUAL is becoming a welcome visitor to many schools and households.

Of the vast wealth of our literature, a very small portion finds a permanent place in the average family, and a still smaller portion is placed within ready reach of the student. It has been the object of the editor in this series of selec tions to give a worthy representation of our best English and American authors in the choice of selections, and extracts, such as may, in the main, be a model of style to students, and at the same time afford popular reading for the social circle and public entertainment. We leave it to the student of letters, upon a candid examination of the

tables of contents as presented at the end of this volume,

and to the general reader who has made himself familiar

with the series of selections, to determine in what degree the task has been performed.

PHILADELPHIA, January 1, 1880.

J. W. SHOEMAKER.