Relation of French to Latin. Influence of Latin Literature. Early Monuments. Dialects and Provincial Literatures. Beginning of Literature proper. Cantilenae. Trouvères and Jongleurs.

II. Chansons de Gestes 10

Origin of Chansons de Gestes. Definition. Period of Composition. Chanson de Roland. Amis et Amiles. Other principal Chansons. Social and Literary Characteristics. Authorship. Style and Language. Later History.

III. Provençal Literature 26

Langue d'Oc. Range and characteristics. Periods of Provençal Literature. First Period. Second Period. Forms of Troubadour Poetry. Third Period. Literary Relation of Provençal and French. Defects of Provençal Literature.

IV. Romances of Arthur and of Antiquity 34

The Tale of Arthur. Its Origin. Order of French Arthurian Cycle. Chrestien de Troyes. Spirit and Literary value of Arthurian Romances. Romances of Antiquity. Chanson d'Alixandre. Roman de Troie. Other Romances on Classical subjects.

V. Fabliaux. The Roman du Renart 47

Foreign Elements in Early French Literature. The Esprit Gaulois makes its appearance. Definition of Fabliaux. Subjects and character of Fabliaux. Sources of Fabliaux. The Roman du Renart. The Ancien Renart. Le Couronnement Renart. Renart le Nouvel. Renart le Contrefait. Fauvel.

VI. Early Lyrics 62

Early and Later Lyrics. Origins of Lyric. Romances and Pastourelles. Thirteenth Century. Changes in Lyric. Traces of Lyric in the Thirteenth Century. Quesnes de Bethune. Thibaut de Champagne. Minor Singers. Adam de la Halle. Rutebœuf. Lais. Marie de France.

VII. Serious and Allegorical Poetry 75

Verse Chronicles. Miscellaneous Satirical Verse. Didactic verse. Philippe de Thaun. Moral and Theological verse. Allegorical verse. The Roman de la Rose. Popularity of the Roman de la Rose. Imitations.

VIII. Romans D'Aventures 91

Distinguishing features of Romans d'Aventures. Looser application of the term. Classes of Romans d'Aventures. Adenès le Roi. Raoul de Houdenc. Chief Romans d'Aventures. General Character. Last Chansons. Baudouin de Sebourc.

IX. Later Songs and Poems 100

The Artificial Forms of Northern France. General Character. Varieties. Jehannot de Lescurel. Guillaume de Machault. Eustache Deschamps. Froissart. Christine de Pisan. Alain Chartier.

X. The Drama 110

Origins of the Drama. Earliest Vernacular Dramatic Forms. Mysteries and Miracles. Miracles de la Vierge. Heterogeneous Character of Mysteries. Argument of a Miracle Play. Profane Drama. Adam de la Halle. Monologues. Farces. Moralities. Soties. Profane Mysteries. Societies of Actors.

XI. Prose Chronicles 127

Beginning of Prose Chronicles. Grandes Chroniques de France. Villehardouin. Minor Chroniclers between Villehardouin and Joinville. Joinville. Froissart. Fifteenth-Century Chroniclers.

XII. Miscellaneous Prose 140

General use of Prose. Prose Sermons. St. Bernard. Maurice de Sully. Later Preachers. Gerson. Moral and Devotional Treatises. Translators. Political and Polemical Works. Codes and Legal Treatises. Miscellanies and Didactic Works. Fiction. Antoine de la Salle.

Interchapter I. Summary of Mediaeval Literature 151

BOOK II.

The Renaissance.

Chap. I. Villon, Comines, and the later Fifteenth Century 155

The Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Characteristics of Fifteenth-century Literature. Villon. Comines. Coquillart. Baude. Martial d'Auvergne. The Rhétoriqueurs. Chansons du xv^ème Siècle. Preachers.

II. Marot and his Contemporaries 168

Hybrid School of Poetry. Jean le Maire. Jehan du Pontalais. Roger de Collérye. Minor Predecessors of Marot. Clément Marot. The School of Marot. Mellin de Saint-Gelais. Miscellaneous Verse. Anciennes Poésies Françaises.

III. Rabelais and his Followers 183

Fiction at the beginning of the Sixteenth Century. Rabelais. Bonaventure des Périers. The Heptameron. Noel du Fail. G. Bouchet. Cholières. Apologie pour Hérodote. Moyen de Parvenir.

IV. The Pléiade 196

Character and Effects of the Pléiade Movement. Ronsard. The Défense et Illustration de la Langue Française. Du Bellay. Belleau. Baïf. Daurat, Jodelle, Pontus de Tyard. Magny. Tahureau. Minor Ronsardists. Du Bartas. D'Aubigné. Desportes. Bertaut.

V. The Theatre from Gringore to Garnier 216

Gringore. The last Age of the Mediaeval Theatre. Beginnings of the Classical Drama. Jodelle. Minor Pléiade Dramatists. Garnier. Defects of the Pléiade Tragedy. Pléiade Comedy. Larivey.

VI. Calvin and Amyot 228

Prose Writers of the Renaissance. Calvin. Minor Reformers and Controversialists. Preachers of the League. Amyot. Minor Translators. Dolet. Fauchet. Pasquier. Henri Estienne. Herberay. Palissy. Paré. Olivier de Serres.

VII. Montaigne and Brantôme 241

Disenchantment of the late Renaissance. Montaigne. Charron. Du Vair. Bodin and other Political Writers. Brantôme. Montluc. La Noue. Agrippa d'Aubigné. Marguerite de Valois. Vieilleville. Palma-Cayet. Pierre de l'Estoile. D'Ossat. Sully. Jeannin. Minor Memoir-writers. General Historians.

VIII. The Satyre Ménippée. Regnier 259

Satyre Ménippée. Regnier.

Interchapter II. Summary of Renaissance Literature 270

BOOK III.

The Seventeenth Century.

Chap. I. Poets 274

Malherbe. The School of Malherbe. Vers de Société. Voiture. Epic School. Chapelain. Bacchanalian School. Saint Amant. La Fontaine. Boileau. Minor Poets of the Seventeenth Century.

II. Dramatists 290

Montchrestien. Hardy. Minor predecessors of Corneille. Rotrou. Corneille. Racine. Minor Tragedians. Development of Comedy. Molière. Contemporaries of Molière. The School of Molière. Regnard. Characteristics of Molièresque Comedy.

III. Novelists 319

D'Urfé. The Heroic Romances. Scarron. Cyrano de Bergerac. Furetière. Madame de la Fayette. Fairy Tales. Perrault.

IV. Historians, Memoir-writers, Letter-writers 332

General Historians. Mézeray. Historical Essayists. St. Réal. Memoir-writers. Rohan. Bassompierre. Madame de Motteville. Cardinal de Retz. Mademoiselle. La Rochefoucauld. Saint Simon. Madame de Sévigné. Tallemant des Réaux. Historical Antiquaries. Du Cange.

V. Essayists, Minor Moralists, Critics 354

Balzac. Pascal. La Rochefoucauld. La Bruyère.

VI. Philosophers 368

Descartes. Port Royal. Bayle. Malebranche.

VII. Theologians and Preachers 379

St. François de Sales. Bossuet. Fénelon. Massillon. Bourdaloue. Minor Preachers.

Interchapter III. Summary of Seventeenth-century Literature 391

BOOK IV.

The Eighteenth Century.

Chap. I. Poets 395

Literary Degeneracy of the Eighteenth Century, especially manifest in Poetry. J. B. Rousseau. Voltaire. Descriptive Poets. Delille. Lebrun. Parny. Chénier. Minor Poets. Light Verse. Piron. Désaugiers.

Chap. II. Dramatists 406

Divisions of Drama. La Motte. Crébillon the Elder. Voltaire and his followers. Lesage. Comédie Larmoyante. La Chaussée. Diderot. Marivaux. Beaumarchais. Characteristics of Eighteenth-century Drama.

III. Novelists 416

Lesage. Marivaux. Prévost. Voltaire. Diderot. Rousseau. Crébillon the Younger. Bernardin de St. Pierre. Restif de la Bretonne. Chateaubriand. Madame de Staël. Xavier de Maistre. Benjamin Constant.

IV. Historians, Memoir-writers, Letter-writers 436

Characteristics and Divisions of Eighteenth-century History. Rollin. Dubos. Boulainvilliers. Voltaire. Mably. Rulhière. Memoirs. Mme. de Staal-Delaunay. Duclos. Bésenval. Madame d'Epinay. Minor Memoirs. Memoirs of the Revolutionary Period. Abundance of Letter-writers. Mademoiselle Aïssé. Madame du Deffand. Mademoiselle de Lespinasse. Voltaire. Diderot. Galiani.

V. Essayists, Minor Moralists, Critics 452

Occasional Writing in the Eighteenth-century. Periodicals. Fontenelle. La Motte. Vauvenargues. D'Aguesseau. Duclos. Marmontel. La Harpe. Thomas. Orthodox Apologists. Fréron. Philosophe Criticism. D'Alembert. Diderot. Les Feuilles de Grimm. Diderot's Salons. His General Criticism. Newspapers of the Revolution. The Influence of Journalism. Chamfort. Rivarol. Joubert. Courier. Sénancour.

VI. Philosophers 473

The philosophe movement. Montesquieu. Lettres Persanes. Grandeur et Décadence des Romains. Esprit des Lois. Voltaire. The Encyclopædia. Diderot. D'Alembert. Rousseau. Political Economists. Vauban, Quesnay, etc. Turgot. Condorcet. Volney. La Mettrie. Helvétius. Système de la Nature. Condillac. Joseph de Maistre. Bonald.

VII. Scientific Writers 499

Buffon. Lesser Scientific Writers. Voyages and Travels. Linguistic and Literary Study.

Interchapter IV. Summary of Eighteenth-century Literature 504

BOOK V.

The Nineteenth Century 510

The Romantic Movement. Writers of the later Transition. Béranger. Lamartine. Lamennais. Victor Cousin. Beyle. Nodier. Delavigne. Soumet. The Romantic Propaganda in Periodicals. Victor Hugo. Sainte-Beuve. His Method. Dangers of the Method. Dumas the Elder. Honoré de Balzac. George Sand. Mérimée. Théophile Gautier. Alfred de Musset. Influence of the Romantic Leaders. Minor Poets of 1830. Alfred de Vigny. Auguste Barbier. Gérard de Nerval. Curiosités Romantiques. Pétrus Borel. Louis Bertrand. Second Group of Romantic Poets. Théodore de Banville. Leconte de Lisle. Charles Baudelaire. Minor Poets of the Second Romantic Group. Dupont. The Parnasse. Minor and later Dramatists. Scribe. Ponsard. Emile Augier. Eugène Labiche. Dumas the Younger. Victorien Sardou. Classes of Nineteenth-century Fiction. Minor and later Novelists. Jules Janin. Charles de Bernard. Jules Sandeau. Octave Feuillet. Murger. Edmond About. Feydeau. Gustave Droz. Flaubert. The Naturalists. Emile Zola. Journalists and Critics. Paul de St. Victor. Hippolyte Taine. Academic Critics. Linguistic and Literary Study of French. Philosophical Writers. Comte. Theological Writers. Montalembert. Ozanam. Lacordaire. Ernest Renan. Historians. Thierry. Thiers. Guizot. Mignet. Michelet. Quinet. Tocqueville. Minor Historians.

Conclusion 579

Index 591