{"product_id":"2940012123312","title":"IVANHOE","description":"Now fitted the halter, now traversed the cart,\u003cbr\u003e     And often took leave,--but seemed loath to depart! [1]\u003cbr\u003e     --Prior.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eINTRODUCTION TO IVANHOE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Author of the Waverley Novels had hitherto proceeded in an unabated\u003cbr\u003ecourse of popularity, and might, in his peculiar district of literature,\u003cbr\u003ehave been termed \"L'Enfant Gate\" of success. It was plain, however, that\u003cbr\u003efrequent publication must finally wear out the public favour, unless\u003cbr\u003esome mode could be devised to give an appearance of novelty to\u003cbr\u003esubsequent productions. Scottish manners, Scottish dialect, and\u003cbr\u003eScottish characters of note, being those with which the author was most\u003cbr\u003eintimately, and familiarly acquainted, were the groundwork upon which he\u003cbr\u003ehad hitherto relied for giving effect to his narrative. It was, however,\u003cbr\u003eobvious, that this kind of interest must in the end occasion a degree of\u003cbr\u003esameness and repetition, if exclusively resorted to, and that the reader\u003cbr\u003ewas likely at length to adopt the language of Edwin, in Parnell's Tale:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"'Reverse the spell,' he cries, 'And let it fairly now suffice. The\u003cbr\u003egambol has been shown.'\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNothing can be more dangerous for the fame of a professor of the fine\u003cbr\u003earts, than to permit (if he can possibly prevent it) the character of a\u003cbr\u003emannerist to be attached to him, or that he should be supposed capable\u003cbr\u003eof success only in a particular and limited style. The public are, in\u003cbr\u003egeneral, very ready to adopt the opinion, that he who has pleased them\u003cbr\u003ein one peculiar mode of composition, is, by means of that very talent,\u003cbr\u003erendered incapable of venturing upon other subjects. The effect of this\u003cbr\u003edisinclination, on the part of the public, towards the artificers of\u003cbr\u003etheir pleasures, when they attempt to enlarge their means of amusing,\u003cbr\u003emay be seen in the censures usually passed by vulgar criticism upon\u003cbr\u003eactors or artists who venture to change the character of their efforts,\u003cbr\u003ethat, in so doing, they may enlarge the scale of their art.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere is some justice in this opinion, as there always is in such as\u003cbr\u003eattain general currency. It may often happen on the stage, that an\u003cbr\u003eactor, by possessing in a preeminent degree the external qualities\u003cbr\u003enecessary to give effect to comedy, may be deprived of the right to\u003cbr\u003easpire to tragic excellence; and in painting or literary composition, an\u003cbr\u003eartist or poet may be master exclusively of modes of thought, and powers\u003cbr\u003eof expression, which confine him to a single course of subjects. But\u003cbr\u003emuch more frequently the same capacity which carries a man to popularity\u003cbr\u003ein one department will obtain for him success in another, and that must\u003cbr\u003ebe more particularly the case in literary composition, than either in\u003cbr\u003eacting or painting, because the adventurer in that department is not\u003cbr\u003eimpeded in his exertions by any peculiarity of features, or conformation\u003cbr\u003eof person, proper for particular parts, or, by any peculiar mechanical\u003cbr\u003ehabits of using the pencil, limited to a particular class of subjects.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhether this reasoning be correct or otherwise, the present author felt,\u003cbr\u003ethat, in confining himself to subjects purely Scottish, he was not only\u003cbr\u003elikely to weary out the indulgence of his readers, but also greatly to\u003cbr\u003elimit his own power of affording them pleasure. In a highly polished\u003cbr\u003ecountry, where so much genius is monthly employed in catering for public\u003cbr\u003eamusement, a fresh topic, such as he had himself had the happiness to\u003cbr\u003elight upon, is the untasted spring of the desert;--\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Men bless their stars and call it luxury.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut when men and horses, cattle, camels, and dromedaries, have poached\u003cbr\u003ethe spring into mud, it becomes loathsome to those who at first drank of\u003cbr\u003eit with rapture; and he who had the merit of discovering it, if he would\u003cbr\u003epreserve his reputation with the tribe, must display his talent by a\u003cbr\u003efresh discovery of untasted fountains.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf the author, who finds himself limited to a particular class of\u003cbr\u003esubjects, endeavours to sustain his reputation by striving to add a\u003cbr\u003enovelty of attraction to themes of the same character which have been\u003cbr\u003eformerly successful under his management, there are manifest reasons\u003cbr\u003ewhy, after a certain point, he is likely to fail. If the mine be not\u003cbr\u003ewrought out, the strength and capacity of the miner become necessarily\u003cbr\u003eexhausted. If he closely imitates the narratives which he has before\u003cbr\u003erendered successful, he is doomed to \"wonder that they please no more.\"\u003cbr\u003eIf he struggles to take a different view of the same class of subjects,\u003cbr\u003ehe speedily discovers that what is obvious, graceful, and natural,\u003cbr\u003ehas been exhausted; and, in order to obtain the indispensable charm of\u003cbr\u003enovelty, he is forced upon caricature, and, to avoid being trite, must\u003cbr\u003ebecome extravagant.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is not, perhaps, necessary to enu","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47068431843568,"sku":"2940012123312","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012123312_p0.jpg?v=1763552381","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012123312","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}