Consideration is besought for the following pages on the plea that they embody what is presumed to have been The First Unwritten Book. From such as may not refuse to hear more of this matter a perusal of the explanatory Dedication is invited.-The mechanical singularity therein adverted to is not claimed for this edition, which contains additions to the original volume. But for a sentence tantamount to "re-print," pronounced over the former pages by Presidents in the Republic of Letters, they might not have re-presented themselves in book-shape on a thronged stream, wherein none but the strong may swim. Still the novel species of remora that impeded their first appearance on the surface may possibly now help them into a surer current to the haven of the reader's favor. |