SPECIMENS, &c. EDWARD III. MANDEVILLE. THE first prose writer in the English language, which occurs in our literary annals, is the ancient and renowned traveller, sir John Mandeville. He was born at St. Albans about the beginning of 1300. He received a liberal education, and applied himself to the study of medicine, which he probably practised for some time. But being urged by an unconquerable curiosity to see foreign countries, he departed from England in 1332, and continued abroad for four and thirty years; during which time his person and appearance had been yet considerable; not to mention the unavoidable waste of labour, arising from alteration of taste in selection, and from the difficulty of proportioning the extracts. Had I thoroughly foreseen the tediousness occasioned by these causes, I should almost have been deterred from the undertaking. In a work of this kind, fame is entirely out of the question; if the public, therefore, should think proper to call for a second edition, I should very readily adopt any suggestion, either from friend or stranger, which I thought could add either to its utility or entertainment. |