George Henry Lewes (1817¿1878) was an English philosopher and critic of literature and theatre. He is perhaps best known today for having openly lived with George Eliot. Lewes supported himself by contributing articles on a wide range of subjects to quarterly and other reviews. The Principles of Success in Literature appeared in the Fortnightly Review in 1865. Lewes first lists reasons why writers fail. He then goes into what is needed to succeed in writing. His three basic principles are as follows. ! The Principle of Vision involves being able to see things and have original ideas. 2 The Principle of Sincerity is the ability of the author to express his ideas. 3 The Principle of Beauty is the author¿s use of style in his writing.
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Excerpt from The Principles of Success Literature: Edited With Introduction and Notes The editor's purpose in reprinting this admirable little treatise on literature is, primarily, to make it accessible to his own classes in rhetoric and literary criticism. It has been his custom, as it doubtless is that of many other teachers of rhetoric, to supplement the text-book by reference to various sources of information upon psychology, logic, language, and æsthetics. Books on these topics, written by persons who know what they are writing about, neither too abstruse nor too much diluted with sentiment, are singularly few in number. Professor A. S. Cook did good service, therefore, to teachers and students alike, when, in 1885, he brought these Fortnightly articles again to general attention by reprinting them in pamphlet form. Hardly any other work on literature with which I am acquainted is so thoroughly sound in principle, and at the same time so suggestive and inspiring. Lewes's essay has, too, what is noticeably lacking in many better known writings, a bracing, healthful tone. The customary sentimentalizing about the glories of literature is reduced to a minimum. Literary and critical superstitions of various kinds are ruthlessly picked in pieces. It is just the work to go into the hands of that hope and despair of the teacher of rhetoric, - the callow young man with a sneaking ambition for literature, much sentiment, and a decided relish for rhetorical decoration. The book may be used in the class-room in a great variety of ways. The writer's preference is for what may be called a rudimentary form of the seminary method. The members of the class are not asked to recite as from a text-book, but, having read the treatise, or a portion of it, with much care, are encouraged to discuss with the instructor and with one another, as many of the important points as the time will allow. Advantage may be taken of the interest thus aroused to suggest other lines of reading. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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