This volume collects five prefaces to works of fiction published between 1641 and 1754, introduced by Benjamin Boyce. The earliest, Georges de Scudéry's preface to Ibrahim (1674), argues that romance should move readers through pity and fear, much like tragedy, by making heroes relatable rather than superhuman. Boyce notes that Scudéry's principles were not new even in 1641, drawing on Giraldi Cinthio and Tasso, but they became a touchstone for later English critics.

The excerpts reveal a shift from defending romance to advocating for probability and moral instruction. Mary Manley's 1705 preface to The Secret History of Queen Zarah criticizes ancient romances for heroes who are "not Men," performing incredible feats that fail to engage readers. Instead, she insists on characters with passions and vices that resemble humanity, and on precise, natural descriptions.

Scudéry's Defense of Romance

Georges de Scudéry's preface to Ibrahim (1674) is the earliest piece in the collection. Boyce identifies it as a foundational text for prose fiction criticism, though its ideas were anticipated by earlier Italian theorists. Scudéry argues that romance, like tragedy, should use pity and fear to move readers. He writes that readers "put our selves in the Room of those we see in Danger," and that misfortunes that may happen to anyone are most affecting. This emphasis on emotional engagement through relatable suffering is a key principle that later critics would adopt or modify.

Scudéry also insists on the importance of verisimilitude: heroes should not be superhuman but natural, with passions and virtues that resemble humanity. He criticizes ancient romances where a single prince defeats countless enemies, calling such feats "Incredible" and unlikely to move a sensible reader. This call for probability and character consistency would become a central tenet of eighteenth-century novel theory.

Manley's Attack on the Marvelous

Mary Manley's preface to The Secret History of Queen Zarah (1705) directly challenges the romance tradition. She asserts that heroes in ancient romances "have nothing in them that is Natural; all is unlimited in their Character." Such characters, she argues, cannot be believed, and readers are only "slightly touch'd" by their adventures. Instead, Manley advocates for modern heroes who are given "Passions, Vertues or Vices, which resemble Humanity," so that readers find themselves represented in the descriptions.

Manley emphasizes the need for exact characterization: authors should specify the particular nature of a character's covetousness, valour, or ambition, rather than offering general descriptions. She notes that "the Nature, Humour and Juncture, give New Postures to Vices," and that the best authors reveal "almost unperceivable Jealousies" that escape most writers. This focus on psychological nuance and individual difference anticipates later novelistic realism.

From Theory to Practice: Warburton and Derrick

William Warburton's preface to volumes III and IV of Richardson's Clarissa (1748) and Samuel Derrick's preface to d'Argens's Memoirs of the Count Du Beauval (1754) show how earlier theoretical debates informed actual fiction. Warburton, writing as an editor, likely defends Richardson's epistolary method and moral purpose, though the excerpt does not include his text. Derrick's preface, by contrast, introduces a translation of a French work, continuing the cross-channel exchange of ideas.

Boyce's introduction notes that mid-eighteenth-century notions about prose fiction had a substantial background in earlier French writing, and that English critics often developed their principles by contradicting Scudéry. The collection thus documents a living debate: from Scudéry's defense of romance to Manley's critique, and finally to the practical prefaces of Warburton and Derrick, who apply these theories to the emerging novel form.

Readers interested in the evolution of novelistic theory will find this collection a compact record of key arguments. The prefaces are best read in chronological order, noting how each writer responds to or reframes earlier positions. Boyce's introduction provides essential context, but the prefaces themselves reward close attention to their specific claims about character, probability, and reader response. The volume is a useful companion to studies of eighteenth-century fiction and criticism.