Excerpt from Verse and Prose To the several volumes of the collected edi tion of Eugene Field's writings in verse and prose issued nearly twenty years ago various well established writers contributed introduc tions. Why such a popular author as Field then was should have needed such a host of sponsors is not clear, but it is fairly apparent that today he is able to dispense with all help of the sort, granted that it really is a help. If anyone doubts this, he may speedily convince himself of his error by taking note of the well rubbed condition of some of the volumes in the Columbia Library's set of Field's works. Yet while I am convinced that no book by, or deal ing with, Eugene Field needs any sort of intro duction, his kindly ghost and the kindly reader - an unkindly reader of a book about Field is almost unthinkable - will doubtless pardon me for contributing these few paragraphs to the present volume. Mr. Harper has so well described the Yeno wine Collection of Field's writings which yielded the materials from which this volumehas been compiled, and he has brought out so clearly the special interest attaching to the items it has been thought fit to reproduce, that to dilate on the pleasure the Field enthusiast is likely to derive from what he will encounter in these pages would be as superfluous as to descant upon the attractiveness of Eugene Field himself, whether he be viewed as the embodiment of all that is friendly and whim sical, as the poet of childhood, or as the born journalist who was also the genuine man of letters. It may not be superfluous, however, to lay emphasis on the fact that among Ameri can writers no one has a greater claim to the attention of true bibliophiles than the collector author with whom we are now enabled to be come more intimately acquainted. Although facsimiles of Field's unforgettable handwriting and of his capricious drawings are obtainable elsewhere, they do not seem to produce such a definite impression as they do here; and what could bring out more clearly and concretely Field's devotion to the higher sides of his genius and calling than his own methodical, alphabetical listing of all the titles of his verses and prose tales? He had, we see, his share of the love of fame, but more than his share of the love of good work for goodwork's sake, and of the love for fellow-men and what is better fellow-children. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.