Jonathan Nield

“ In the first place it must be remembered that History itself possesses interest for us more as the unfolding of certain moral and mental developments than as the mere enumeration of facts. Of course, I am aware that the ideal of the Historian is Truth utterly regardless of prejudice and inclination, but, as with all other human ideals, this one is never fully realised, and there is ever that discrepancy between Fact and its Narration to which I just now alluded. ”

“ Had Scott brought him more prominently into the plot, and thus emphasized the fictional aspect of his figure, our interest in the story, as such, might have been sustained, but we should have lost that atmosphere of vraisemblance which, under a more careful reserve, the hand of the master has wrought for us.
But it is not only this introduction of personalities which constitutes a novel "historical"; the mere allusion to real events, or the introduction of dates, may give us sufficient ground for identifying the period with which a novel deals. ”

“ The Historical Novel exists primarily as Fiction, and, even though in our waking moments we may be persuaded of the unreality of that "dream" which a Scott or a Dumas has produced for us, we shall still be able to place ourselves again and again under the spell of their delightful influence. Moreover, while admitting Dumas' carelessness of exact detail, it would hardly be contended by the most sceptical that his works (still less those of Scott) are without any background of Historic suggestiveness. ”

“ There is none of that sense of familiarity which we enjoy when reading a sixteenth or seventeenth century romance; in the latter case, the historical background, being easily perceptible, merges for us with the creations of the author's own imagination. Where the writer of an "ancient" romance happens to be a scholar like Ebers, we feel that—so far at least as historical presentment goes—we cannot be far wrong, but the combination of great scholarship and narrative capacity is, alas, too rare!
I have likewise refrained from giving many tales dealing with Early-Christian times. ”

“ Of course the question as to whether a particular person or event is truly historical, is not always an easy one to answer. By the adaptation in it of some purely mythical character or event, a novel is no more constituted "historical" than is a Fairy-tale by the adaptation of folklore. King Arthur and Robin Hood are unhistorical, and, if I have ventured to insert in my list certain tales which deal with the latter, it is not on that account, but because other figures truly historical (e.g., Richard I.) appear. ”

“ I know well that such a book as Green's "Short History of the English People" may prove to some more fascinating than any novel. There are, however, cases in which recourse may be had to a high-class work of fiction for the attainment of a truer historic sense; while, taken only as supplement to more strictly Academic reading, such a work may prove to have its uses. ”

“ We consider (say) the Eighteenth Century from the purely Historical standpoint, and, while we do so, are under no delusion as to our limitations; we know that a few of the leading personages and events have been brought before us in a more or less disjointed fashion, and are perfectly aware that there is room for much discrepancy between the pictures so presented to us (be it with immense skill) and the actual facts as they took place in such and such a year. ”

“ The fountains of Romance show no sign of running dry, and, though we may look in vain at the moment for a genius of the very highest type, the Future has possibilities within it which the greatest literary pessimist among us cannot wholly deny. ”

“ To anyone objecting that something ought to have been done to indicate this in each separate case, I would urge that the "out of print" line can never be drawn with precision in view of constant reprints as well as of further extinctions.
Perhaps this introduction may be most fitly concluded by something in the nature of apology for Historical Romance itself. Not only has fault been found with the deficiencies of unskilled authors in that department, but the question has been asked by one or two critics of standing—What right has the Historical Novel to exist at all? ”

“ If, in reading what purports to be no more than a Novel, the struggle between Christianity and Paganism (for example) , or the unbounded egotism of Napoleon, be brought more vividly before our minds—and this may be done by suggestion as well as by exact relation, then, I would maintain, we are to some extent educated historically, using the word in a large though perfectly legitimate sense. ”

“ Given a fairly accurate knowledge as regards the general history of any period, combined with some investigation into its special manners and customs, there is no reason why a truly imaginative novelist should not produce a work at once satisfying to romantic and historical instincts. ”

“ Coming to the List itself, it will be noticed that I have been somewhat sparing in the books given under the "Pre-Christian" heading. Novels dealing with these very far-off times are apt to be unsatisfactory; the mist in which events and personages are enveloped, takes away from that appearance of reality which is the great charm of the historical novel. ”

“ To G. P. R. James, Harrison Ainsworth, and James Grant I have previously alluded. It has been my endeavour to choose the best examples of all the above-named novelists—a task rendered specially difficult in some cases by the fact of immense literary output. Doubtless not a few of the works so chosen are open to criticism, but they will at least serve to illustrate certain stages in the growth of Historical Romance. ”

“ Scott, indeed, shows signs of having possessed something of that "detachment" which is one important qualification in the Historian proper; there is a fairness and prevision in his historical judgments which we look for in vain when reading the works of his contemporaries.
And, having thus touched on what I believe to be the true relation between Romance and History, I may note, as a last word, the use of the Historical Tale to those who have the training of young folk. ”

“ That power of imaginative memory, which all exercise in daily experience, may be held in very different degrees, but its enjoyment is not dependent on accuracy of representation—for, were this so, none of us would possess it. In an analogous manner the writer of Romance may be more or less adequately equipped on the side of History pure and simple, but he need not wait for that which will never come—the power of reproducing in toto a past age. ”

“ I was careful, when dealing with this question in my Introduction, to avoid making the test one of actual historical accuracy, but there are, I have implied, certain readily-verifiable personages and events which form a basis amply sufficient for purposes of distinction. The pirates of "Treasure Island" are taken (as Mr. Ford says) from actual figures of the Eighteenth Century, but under my definition Stevenson's novel is not thereby constituted "historical" in the strict sense. ”

“ Becker's "Charicles" and "Gallus" are little more than school textbooks, while, turning to a less scholarly quarter, Ainsworth's "Preston Fight," and even his better-known "Guy Fawkes," may be cited as illustrating what Mr. Shorthouse means when he speaks of novels "in which a small amount of fiction has been introduced simply for the purpose of relating History." In all such cases the average novel-reader feels that he has been allured on false pretences. ”

“ Differing as much in method and style as in choice of period and character type, Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" and George Eliot's "Romola" have at least this in common—they require a very high degree of intelligence for their due appreciation. Who, among those of us with any knowledge of such works, would dream of recommending them to a youthful reader fresh from the perusal of Miss Yonge's "Little Duke," or Captain Marryatt's "Children of the New Forest"?
Naturally in a list of this kind there is bound to be very great inequality ”

“ J. M. Neale's many historical tales I have selected only one—"Theodora Phranza," which, besides being well written, has the merit of dealing with a somewhat neglected period. Stories possessing a background of History are to be found in "Tales from Blackwood," as also in "Wilson's Tales of the Borders," but their extremely slight character seemed scarcely to justify insertion; while not even the high literary position attained by him on other grounds reconciled me to either of Allan Cunningham's novels—"Sir Michael Scott" and "Paul Jones." ”

“ More often than not, it is pointed out, the Romancist gives us a mass of inaccuracies, which, while they mislead the ignorant (i.e., the majority?) , are an unpardonable offence to the historically-minded reader. Moreover, the writer of such Fiction, though he be a Thackeray or a Scott, cannot surmount barriers which are not merely hard to scale, but absolutely impassable. The spirit of a period is like the selfhood of a human being—something that cannot be handed on ”

“ True, the real Science of History—the sifting of evidence, and the discovery and unravelling of ancient documents—may be described as an essentially modern attainment, so it would be unreasonable to blame our older historians for errors which it was largely, if not wholly, beyond their power to overcome. And it is just here that I would emphasise my defence of the Romancist. ”

“ I believe, however, that one notable critic has pronounced the mischief already done to be quite irreparable, seeing that the only "History" at all widely spread is that derived from those very romances in which errors are so interwoven with the sentimental interest of the plot itself that readers inevitably "hug their delusions!" ”

“ But, goes on the objector, in the case of a Historical Romance we allow ourselves to be hoodwinked, for, under the influence of a pseudo- historic security, we seem to watch the real sequence of events in so far as these affect the characters in whom we are interested. ”

“ The "man of destiny" himself—appearing on the scene for little more than a brief moment—can in no sense be described as one of the book's characters, and yet the whole plot is so skilfully contrived as to hinge on his personality. We are made to feel the dominating influence of that powerful will upon the fears and hopes of a time brimming over with revolutionary movement. ”

“ A Guide to the Best Historical Novels and Tales by Jonathan Nield
"These historical novels have taught all men this truth, which looks like a truism, and yet was as good as unknown to writers of history and others, till so taught: that the bygone ages of the world were actually filled by living men, not by protocols, state-papers, controversies, and abstractions of men." ”

“ In preparing the following lists, I have had in view, for the most part, the average Juvenile taste; doubtless many of the more advanced works might be offered in special cases, but, in regard to that, the Parent or Teacher can alone judge. Some of the tales entered in (I.) reappear in (II.) , but a comparison will disclose important differences. A reference to the General List will, in most cases, reveal a more exact specification; for the sake of convenience, the tales are here grouped according to Reigns only. ”

“ Tolstoy, Dumas, Balzac, George Sand, Victor Hugo, De Vigny, Prosper
Merimee, Flaubert, Theophile Gautier, Freytag, Scheffel, Hauff,
Auerbach, Manzoni, Perez Galdos, Merejkowski, Topelius,
Sienkiewicz, and Jokai are, perhaps, the chief amongst those
representing Literatures other than our own. ”

“ And, while I am alluding to this "Supplementary List," I should like to give my reason for omitting from it one remarkable book which has every claim to be considered representative of the mid-nineteenth century. Readers of "John Inglesant" may be reminded that in his interesting preface Mr. Shorthouse alludes to William Smith's philosophical novel—"Thorndale." As a picture of Thought developments in the early Victorian period, the latter work has special historical interest for the philosophical and theological student ”

“ The partially-selective list of Historical Novels in "A Guide Book to Books," by E. B. Sargant and B. Whishaw. (H. Frowde, 1891.)
The essay on "Sir Walter Scott," in Vol. I. of Leslie Stephen's "Hours in a Library." (Smith, Elder, & Co., 1892. New edition, with additions.)
[Mr. Leslie Stephen is one of the most formidable critics with whom the lover of Historical Romance has to deal. That which it is possible to say against such fiction is said more forcibly by him, perhaps, than by anyone else.] ”