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INsubmittingtotheEnglish-speakingpublicthissecondvolumeofM.
Zola'strilogyLourdes,Rome,Paris,Ihavenoprefatoryremarksto
offeronbehalfoftheauthor,whoseviewsonRome,itspast,present,
andfuture,willbefoundfullyexpoundedinthefollowingpages.Thata
bookofthischaracterwill,likeitsforerunnerLourdes,provoke
considerablecontroversyiscertain,butcommentorrejoindermaywellbe
postponeduntilthatcontroversyhasarisen.AtpresentthenIonly
desiretosay,thatinspiteofthegreatlabourwhichIhavebestowedon
thistranslation,Iamsensibleofitsshortcomings,andinaworkof
suchlength,suchintricacy,andsuchawiderangeofsubject,itwill
notbesurprisingifsomeslipsarediscovered.Anyerrorswhichmaybe
pointedouttome,however,shallberectifiedinsubsequenteditions.I
havegiven,Ithink,thewholeessenceofM.Zola'stext;buthehimself
hasadmittedtomethathehasnowandagainallowedhispentorunaway
withhim,andthuswhilstsacrificingnothingofhissenseIhaveat
timesabbreviatedhisphraseologysoasslightlytocondensethebook.I
mayaddthattherearenochapterheadingsintheoriginal,andthatthe
circumstancesunderwhichthetranslationwasmadedidnotpermitmeto
supplyanywhilstitwaspassingthroughthepress;however,assome
indicationofthecontentsofthebook--whichtreatsofmanymorethings
thanareusuallyfoundinnovels--maybeaconveniencetothereader,I
havepreparedatablebrieflyepitomisingthechieffeaturesofeach
successivechapter. |
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