This 1878 installment in John Morley's English “Men of Letters” Series sympathetically reviews the life and works of the Irish writer Oliver Goldsmith. Black defends Goldsmith by reviewing his education, travel, personal traits, literature, and the difficulties he faced along the way.

If you want to learn a little more about William Thackeray, both as a person and of his works generally, this monograph will certainly satisfy you. Yet, what may astonish you is the overwhelming capacity of Trollope's mind, as well as the vastness of its repository, for he dissects many of his friend's works in such a meticulous way that would imply that he, Trollope, did nothing else in his whole existence other than study Thackeray's diverse writings...

“The Canterbury Tales of Geoffrey Chaucer” (1343-1400) represent one of the foundations of English literature. For this 1879 entry in the influential "English Men of Letters" series of literary biographies, the distinguished critic Adolphus Ward placed Chaucer's life and work in the context of his tempestuous times, which included the Black Death.

Robert Southey (1774—1843) was a British Romantic poet, member of the "Lake Poets," and England's Poet Laureate from 1813 to his death in 1843. He wrote the first version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears in 1834. Dowden's acclaimed biography of Southey, part of the popular English Men of Letters series, is an excellent resource for anyone passionate about poetry and literature.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) created some of England's most enduring works of fiction. Ward's 1882 entry into the influential "English Men of Letters" series of literary biographies probes Dickens' life and work before and after “The Pickwick Papers”, his travel writings, David Copperfield, and beyond.