C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Andrew Lang (1844–1912)
Lang, Andrew. An English poet, story-teller, and literary critic; born at Selkirk, Scotland, March 31, 1834; died in 1912. He wrote many volumes of verse, characterized by grace of style, harmony of numbers, and a lively, playful fancy. Among his poems are: ‘Ballads and Lyrics of Old France’ (1872), some of the pieces translated or adapted from the old French, others written new in the tone and spirit of the ancient singers; ‘Ballads in Blue China’ (1881); ‘Helen of Troy’ (1883). His ‘Letters to Dead Authors’ (1886) is worthy of a place on the same shelf, with Lucian’s ‘Dialogues of the Dead’ and Lander’s ‘Imaginary Conversations.’ His ‘Custom and Myth’ (1884) and his ‘Myth, Ritual, and Religion’ (1887) belong to the popular literature of archæological and prehistoric research. Among his very numerous volumes are translations of Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus; and, in collaboration with Prof. Butcher and Messrs. Walter Leaf and Ernest Myers, a prose translation of the Iliad and Odyssey. One of Lang’s favorite fields in his later years was Scottish history. He wrote ‘History of Scotland from the Roman Occupation’ (1900); ‘Life of Prince Charles Edward’ (1900); ‘The Mystery of Mary Stuart’ (1901); ‘James VI. and the Gowrie Mystery’ (1902); ‘John Knox and the Reformation’ (1905); ‘A Defence of Sir Walter Scott and the Border Minstrelsy’ (1910). (See Critical and Biographical Introduction).