PREFATORY NOTE

THIS edition of "Heroes and Hero-Worship" is intended for the beginner, not the experienced Carlylean. It is important, therefore, that he should have all the time available to study Carlyle's thought and style, and be relieved of the need of hunting over dictionaries and encyclopedias for mere information. An attempt has been made in the footnotes to supply such mechanical apparatus as would be useful to a student of the last years in the High School or of Freshman or Sophomore year in college in gaining a verbal understanding of the text. The "Additional Notes " contain suggestions for his more deliberate and careful study of Carlyle's teaching. The editor has not felt any obligation to stand over the author with a rod of correction for the occasional petty slips of his memory or the imperfect scholarship of his generation; for the value of the book consists primarily in its power to stimulate mind and heart and soul, rather than in the amount of historical or other knowledge that one may gather from it.

The text is that of the Library Edition of Carlyle's works, London, 1869-71, of which the People's Edi tion, the only later one issued during Carlyle's life, was a cheap reprint.