A Library of the World's Best Literature - Ancient and Modern - Vol.XXXVI (Forty-Five Volumes); Sully-Thackeray

Book excerpt: Popular American essayist, novelist, and journalist CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER (1829-1900) was renowned for the warmth and intimacy of his writing, which encompassed travelogue, biography and autobiography, fiction, and more, and influenced entire generations of his fellow writers. Here, the prolific writer turned editor for his final grand work, a splendid survey of global literature, classic and modern, and it's not too much to suggest that if his friend and colleague Mark Twain-who stole Warner's quip about how "everybody complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it"-had assembled this set, it would still be hailed today as one of the great achievements of the book world. Highlights from Volume 36 include: . the poetry of Sully-Prudhomme . the writings of Charles Sumner . the philosophy of Emanuel Swedenborg . the satire of Jonathan Swift . the poetry of Algernon Charles Swinburne . the writings of Tacitus . Tahitian literature . excerpts from the Talmud . the sermons of Jeremy Taylor . the poetry of Alfred Tennyson . the writings of William Makepeace Thackeray . and much, much more.