The history of Cheap Popular Literature is a long and instructive chapter of the history of the condition of the People. Before the invention of printing there was little literature that could be called popular, and none that could be called cheap. But in the very earliest stages of the press all books would be comparatively cheap, and all literature to a certain extent popular. Our first printer, as we regard his works, had a most especial eye to the largest number of readers. We have no record of the price of his books beyond the fact that one of them was sold for 6s. 8d., a price equal to that of a quarter of wheat. But the subjects of his books, for the most part, show that he thought it his especial business to simplify knowledge, and to furnish reading for amusement. We can scarcely call any of his books learned. What there is of science in them was of a popular sort, and illustrated3 by diagrams. The histories were those of our old {180} legendary4 chronicles, as attractive even as the romances of chivalry6 which accompanied them. His poetry was chiefly that of one of the great minds whose essential attribute is that of universality. Caxton went to the largest number of readers that his age presented to him.
It is a remarkable7 characteristic of the first century of printing, not only in this country, but wherever a press was erected8, that the highest and most constant efforts of the new art were addressed to the diffusion9 of the old stores of knowledge, rather than to an enlargement of the stores. The early professors of the art on the continent, in Germany, Italy, and France, were scholars who knew the importance of securing the world's inheritance of the knowledge of Greece and Rome from any further destruction, such as the scattered10 manuscripts of the ancient poets, orators11, and historians had experienced, through neglect and ignorance. The press would put them fairly beyond the reach of any new waste. But after the first half-century of printing, when these manuscripts had been copied in type, and the public libraries and the princes and nobles of Europe had been supplied, a fresh want arose out of the satisfaction of the former want. Men of letters, who did not belong to the class of the rich, anxiously demanded copies of the ancient classics; and their demands were not made in vain. The Alduses, and Stephenses, and Plantins, did not hold it good to keep books dear for the advancement12 of letters; they anxiously desired {181} to make them cheap, and they produced, therefore, not expensive folios only, as their predecessors13 had done, but neat and compactly printed octavos and duodecimos, for the general market. The instant that they did this, the foundations of literature were widened and deepened. They probably at first over-rated the demand; indeed, we know they did so, and they suffered in consequence. But the time was sure to come when their labours would be rewarded; and, at any rate, they were at once placed beyond a servile dependence14 upon patrons. When they had their customers in every great city and university, they did not wait for the approving nod of a pope or a cardinal15 before they began to print.
A new demand very soon followed upon the first demand for cheap copies of the ancient classics, and this was even more completely the demand of the people. The doctrines16 of the Reformation had proclaimed the Bible as the best spiritual guide and teacher, and the people would have Bibles. The first English Bible was bought up and burnt; those who bought the Bibles contributed capital for making new Bibles, and those who burnt the Bibles advertised them. The first printers of the Bible were, however, cautious; they did not see the number of readers upon which they were to rely for a sale. In 1540 Grafton printed but 500 copies of his complete edition of the Scriptures17; and yet, so great was the rush to this new supply of the most important knowledge, that we have {182} existing 326 editions of the English Bible, or parts of the Bible, printed between 1526 and 1600.
The early English printers did not attempt what the continental18 ones were doing for the ancient classics. Down to 1540 no Greek book had appeared from an English press. Oxford19 had only printed a part of Cicero's Epistles; Cambridge, no ancient writer whatever: only three or four old Roman writers had been reprinted, at that period, throughout England. But a great deal was done for public instruction by the course which our early printers took; for, as one of them says, "Divers20 famous clerks and learned men translated and made many noble works into our English tongue, whereby there was much more plenty and abundance of English used than there was in times past." The English nobility were, probably, for more than the first half-century of English printing, the great encouragers of our press: they required translations and abridgments of the classics, versions of French and Italian romances, old chronicles, and helps to devout21 exercises. Caxton and his successors abundantly supplied these wants; and the impulse to most of their exertions22 was given by the growing demand for literary amusement on the part of the great. Caxton, as we have seen, speaking of his 'Boke of Eneydos,' says, "This present book is not for a rude uplandish man to labour therein, nor read it." But a great change was working in Europe; the "rude uplandish man," if he gave promise of talent, was sent to school. The priests {183} strove with the laity23 for the education of the people; and not only in Protestant but in Catholic countries, were schools and universities everywhere founded. Here, again, was a new source of employment for the press—A, B, C's, or Abseys, Primers, Catechisms, Grammars, Dictionaries, were multiplied in every direction. Books became, also, during this period, the tools of professional men. There were not many works of medicine, but a great many of law; and even the people required instruction in the ordinances24 they were called upon to obey, which they received in the form of proclamations.
The course of the early printers was based upon the principle that they could produce books cheaper by the press than by the scribe. This point once established, the next fact would be also clear—that the more impressions they printed the cheaper the book could be afforded. Beyond this great fact there was a difficulty. There would arise in their minds the same doubt which has puzzled all printers and booksellers from the time of Caxton to our times; which is at the bottom of all controversies25 about dear books and low-priced books at the present hour; and which will continue to perplex the producers of books, even should the entire population beyond infancy26 become readers, and have the means of purchasing books in some form or other. That question is simply a commercial one, and is perfectly27 independent of any schemes of public or private generosity28 for the enlightenment of the people; it is—Given the subject {184} of a book, its mode of treatment, the celebrity29 or otherwise of its author, its amount of matter—what is the natural limit of its first sale, and the necessary ratio of its published price? If the probable demand be under-rated, there will be a high price, which will restrict the natural demand; and if over-rated, there will be a low price, which will curtail30 the natural profit. This is scarcely a question for enthusiasts31 for cheapness to decide, upon the broad assertion that a large sale of low-priced books will be more profitable than a small sale of high-priced books.
In 1825, Archibald Constable32, then the great publisher, propounded33 to the then 'Great Unknown' his plan for revolutionising "the art and traffic of bookselling." He exhibited the annual schedule of assessed taxes, having reckoned the number of persons who paid for each separate article of luxury; and from that document he calculated that, if he produced every year "twelve volumes so good that millions must wish to have them, and so cheap that every butcher's callant may have them, if he please to let me tax him sixpence a week," he should sell them, "not by thousands or tens of thousands, but by hundreds of thousands—ay, by millions." It is recorded that a worthy34 divine, instructing his bookseller to publish a sermon of his composition, decided35 that at least twelve thousand should be the number printed, he having calculated that one copy would be required in each parish by the clergyman alone, to {185} say nothing of chance customers. These statistics were ingenious, but they were not safe guides. The callants did not consent to be taxed sixpence a week; and the rectors and curates did not rush to St. Paul's Churchyard to buy up the limited impression of the sermon.
But the Edinburgh publisher, and the rural divine, were nevertheless right in their endeavour to find some principle upon which they could determine the probable demand for a literary work. Constable proposed to himself the union of goodness and cheapness, to create a demand that (still using his own words) would have made him "richer than the possession of all the copyrights of all the quartos that ever were, or will be, hot-pressed." The goodness without the cheapness might have produced little change in the market; the cheapness without the goodness might have been more influential36 But, with the truest combination of these qualities, there is nothing so easy or so common as to over-rate a demand in the commerce of books. The price of a book aspiring37 to the greatest popularity can only be settled by an estimate of the probable number of readers at any one time in the community, and by a still more difficult estimate of the sort of reading which is likely to interest the greatest number. The same difficulty arises with regard to every new book, and has always arisen. The amount of the "reading public," with its almost endless subdivisions, arising out of station, or age, or average intelligence, or {186} prevailing38 taste, is very difficult to be estimated in our own day; and there are not many authentic39 details ready to our hand upon which we can make an estimate for any past period. We will endeavour, out of these scanty40 landmarks41, to collect some facts relating to the former state and progressive extension of the realms of print.
It is no modern discovery that a book cheap enough for the many amongst reading people to buy, and at the same time a book which the many would have a strong desire to buy, would be more advantageous42 to the manufacturer of books than a dear book which the few only could buy, and which the few only would desire to buy. There is preserved, in the handwriting of Christopher Barker, in 1582, 'A Note of the offices and other special licences for printing granted by her Majesty43, with a conjecture44 of their valuation.'[18]
This worthy printer to the Queen probably a little under-rated his own gains, when he says that the whole Bible requires so great a cost, that his predecessors kept the realm twelve years without venturing a single edition, but that he had desperately45 adventured to print four in a year and a half, expending46 about 3000l., to the certain ruin of his wife and family if he had died in the time. Of these four editions, three were in folio, and one in quarto. The sale of the folios would necessarily be limited by the cost, in the way that the same unhappy patentee complains of as to his Book of {187} Common Prayer, "which few or none do buy except the minister." But how stands the sale of smaller and less expensive books? Mr. Daye prints the Psalms47 in metre, which book, "being occupied of all sorts of men, women, and children, and requiring no great stock for the furnishing thereof, is therefore gainful." The small Catechism is "also a profitable copy, for that it is general." Mr. Seres prints the Morning and Evening Prayer, with the Collects and the Litany; and where poor Mr. Barker sells one Book of Common Prayer, "he (Seres) furnisheth the whole parishes throughout the realm, which are commonly a hundred to one." But with all his laments48 and jealousies49, Queen Elizabeth's printer, in those anti-commercial days, had hit the sound principle that is at the root of the commerce of books. There is one of the printers, he says, whose patent contains all dictionaries in all tongues, all chronicles and histories whatsoever50; and his position is thus described:—"If he print competent numbers of each to maintain his charges, all England, Scotland, and much more, were not able to utter them; and if he should print but a few of each volume, the prices would be exceedingly great, and he in more danger to be undone51 than likely to gain." Here are the Scylla and Charybdis of the book-trade. Let "all good books on their first appearance appeal to the needy52 multitude," says one adviser53. Mr. Barker answers, "All England, Scotland, and much more, were not able to utter them." "Let the rich and luxurious54 {188} be first addressed," say the old traditional believers that dearness and excellence55 are synonymous. Mr. Barker answers—"Print but a few of each volume, at exceedingly high prices, and there is more danger of ruin than gain."
The Note of Christopher Barker to Lord Burghley is an answer to a complaint that had been made in 1582, that the privileges granted to members of the Stationers' Company "will be the overthrow56 of the printers and stationers within this city, being in number one hundred and seventy-five, and thereby57 the excessive prices of books prejudiciable to the state of the whole realm." In the absence of any knowledge of the numbers printed of a book, and of its consequent price, at the time of this complaint against the monopolists of charging "excessive prices," it may enable us to form some estimate of the character of the books issued in 1582, and thence of the quality of the readers of books, if we glance at two other sources of information—Ames and Herbert's 'Typographical Antiquities,' and Mr. Collier's 'Extracts from the Registers of the Stationers' Company.' The latter is especially valuable, as showing what was doing in the most popular literature—the literature of ballads59 and broadsides, of marvellous adventures and merry tales—which matters Ames and Herbert rejected in a great degree.
In the twenty-fifth year of Queen Elizabeth then, we learn that the printers of London had a good deal of work to do, in the production of {189} Bibles, Testaments60, and Prayer-books—of A B C's, Primers, and Catechisms; of divinity, chiefly controversial; of almanacs and prognostications; of Latin books for grammar-schools; of grammars and dictionaries; of statutes61 and law-books. This was the staple62 work of the press, which had been going on from the beginning of the century, and constantly increasing. We learn from the 'Privy-purse Accounts of Elizabeth of York,' that, in 1505, twenty pence were paid for a Primer and a Psalter. This sum was equal to a week's wages of a labourer in husbandry. The Primer and the Psalter were scarcely for the labourer. In 1516 'Fitzherbert's Grand Abridgment,' then first published, cost the lawyer forty shillings—a price equal to the expense of a week's commons for all the students of Fitzherbert's inn. No doubt a century of printing in England had greatly lowered the price of all books that were essential instruments in the learned professions, or for the conduct of school education. But in the reign of Elizabeth the class of general readers had arisen; a class far more extensive than that of the clerks and noble gentlemen to whom our first printers addressed their translations of the classics, their French and Italian romances, their 'Gesta Romanorum,' their old chronicles, and their early poetry. It was a time of travel and adventure. In this year, 1582, we find printed 'Discovery and Conquest of the East Indies,' 'Discovery and Conquest of the Provinces of Peru, and also of the rich Mines of Potosi,' 'Divers Voyages touching63 {190} the Discovery of America' (Hakluyt), 'Acts and Gests of the Spaniards in the West Indies,' 'State of Flanders and Portugal.' 'A Discourse64 in commendation of Sir Francis Drake' had appeared in 1581. Frobisher had received his poetical65 'Welcome Home,' by Churchyard, in 1579. Of historical works, we have none printed in 1582, with the exception of 'The Life, Acts, and Death of the most noble, valiant66, and renowned67 Prince Arthur,' which the readers of all classes would receive with undoubting mind as an authentic record. But solid books of history had very recently been produced. Holinshed had published his 'Chronicles;' Guicciardini had been translated by Jeffrey Fenton, and Herodotus by B. R.
The rude historical Drama was then just arising to familiarise the people with their country's annals. In ten more years the press would teem68 with play-books; for the triumphant69 era was approaching of those who, in 1579, Stephen Gosson denounced to uttermost perdition in his 'Pleasant invective70 against poets, pipers, jesters, and such-like caterpillars71 of a commonwealth72.' That species of popular literature is almost absent from the Registers of 1582; but the materials upon which much of the romantic drama is founded were familiar to the readers of this period. Who were the readers, we may judge from the titles of some of these novels. One will indicate a class:—'The Wonderful Adventures of Simonides, gathered as well for the instruction of our noble young gentlemen as our honourable73 {191} courtly ladies.' The translators and writers of these romances seem to have had no notion of a class of readers beyond the circle of the rich and the high-born. Sidney's 'Arcadia' is called 'The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia;' and in his Dedication74 to "My dear Lady and Sister," he says, "It is done only for you, and to you; ... for indeed for severer eyes it is not, being but a trifle, and that triflingly75 handled." A few years after came Robert Greene, and other writers of imagination, who were equally starved in writing plays for the stage-managers and stories for the stationers. Greene's 'Pandosto,' afterwards called 'Dorastus and Fawnia,' is a small quarto of 56 pages, in which Shakspere found the story of 'The Winter's Tale.' The author describes this novelet as "pleasant for age to avoid dreary76 thoughts; profitable for youth to eschew77 other wanton pastimes; and bringing to both a desired content." He dedicates it "To the Gentlemen Readers, Health;" and to these "Gentlemen" he says, "If any condemn78 my rashness for troubling your ears with so many unlearned pamphlets, I will straight shroud79 myself under the shadow of your courtesies." The scholar was addressing the "gentlemen" of the Inns of Court and of the Universities. He was looking to a ruder class of readers when, in 1591, he published 'A Notable Discovery of Cosenage,' having himself, as he confesses, kept villainous company. This tract5 he addresses "To the young Gentlemen, Merchants, Apprentices80, Farmers, and plain Countrymen." {192} Here is a great extension of the reading public: but we have some doubts if Greene's tract ever reached "Farmers and plain Countrymen." The question arises, how were books to be circulated in the provinces? It was more than a century later before some of the largest towns, such as Birmingham, had their booksellers. The pedlers who kept the fairs and markets were the booksellers of the early days of the press. The last new pamphlet travelled into the country in the same pack with the last new ruff; it travelled many miles, and found few buyers. And yet for some popular books the demand was not contemptible81. Sir Thomas Challoner translated 'The Praise of Folly,' of Erasmus, which was published in 1577; and the Stationers' Company stipulated82 with the publisher that he should print "not above 1500 of any impression," and that "any of the Company may lay on with him, reasonably, at every impression." Mr. Collier, who gives this curious extract from "the Stationers' Registers," thinks that this meant "sharing the profits." It meant that whilst the sheets were at press any member of the Company might print off a reasonable number for his own sale. To "lay on" is still a technical term in printing. Challoner's Erasmus was an amusing book for the scholar, and had, no doubt, a special sale amongst teachers and students. Philip Stubbes, in his 'Anatomy83 of Abuses,' first published in 1583, bitterly complains that "pamphlets of toys and babbleries corrupt84 men's minds and pervert85 good wits;" {193} and he especially laments that such books, being "better esteemed86 and more vendible87 than the godliest and sagest88 books that be," have caused "that worthy Book of Martyrs89, made by that famous father and excellent instrument in God his Church, Master John Foxe, so little to be accepted." We might have concluded that, even in those days of limited bookselling, the great popular book of the 'Acts and Monuments' would have had an universal sale, with its wonderful woodcuts and its deep interest for the bulk of the people. But when its excitement was simply historical, two centuries afterwards, the same book would be found in many a peasant's cottage, for the sole reason that it might be purchased in small portions by a periodical outlay90. Whilst the wares91 of worthy John Fox were sleeping in the bookseller's warehouse92, the people were buying their 'Almanacs and Prognostications,' which Christopher Barker, speaking of their patentee, calls "a pretty commodity towards an honest man's living." They were buying, in this year of 1582, 'The Dial of Destiny,' an astrological treatise93; 'The Examination and Confession94 of Witches;' 'The Execution of Edmund Campion, the Jesuit;' 'The Interpretation95 of Dreams;' 'A Treatise of the rare and strange Wonders seen in the Air.' They were buying 'A Ballad58 of the Lamentation96 of a modest Maiden97 being deceitfully forsaken98;' A Ballad entitled 'Now we go, of the Papists' new overthrow;' 'The picture of two pernicious Varlets, called Prig Pickthank and Clem Clawback;' 'A {194} Ballad entitled a doleful Ditty, declaring the unfortunate hap2 of two faithful friends, the one went out of her wits and the other for sorrow died.' They were buying story-books in prose and rhyme,—accounts of murders and treasons, of fires and earthquakes,—and songs, "old and plain." The Court had its 'Euphues, very pleasant for all gentlemen to read;' and the City its mirror of Court manners, entitled 'How a young gentleman may behave himself in all companies.'
If we look very broadly at the character of the popular literature of the middle period of the reign of Elizabeth, and compare it with the popular literature of our own day, we shall find that the differences are more in degree than in kind. We have purposely selected the period before the uprising of our great dramatic literature, which must have had a prodigious99 effect upon the intellectual condition of the people. There was a great deal of training going forward in the grammar-schools for the sons of tradesmen, and of the more opulent cultivators; but the rudiments100 of knowledge were not accessible to the labourers in rural districts, and the inferior handicraftsmen. There was, probably, no great distinction in the acquirements of the gentry101 and the burgesses. Some read with a real desire for information; some for mere102 amusement. Newspapers were not as yet. In the country house where reading was an occupation, there was Hall's 'Chronicle,' and Stow's 'Chronicle,' and, may be, his rival Grafton's; there was {195} Painter's 'Palace of Pleasure,' Tusser's 'Five Hundred Points of good Husbandry,' and, though Philip Stubbes denies its popularity, Fox's 'Book of Martyrs.' Chaucer and Gower had become obsolete103 in the courtly circles; but Surrey, and Sackville, and Gascoigne were dozed104 over after the noontide dinner. The peers and commoners who came to Court and Parliament bought the new Travels and Discoveries, and carried them into the country, for the solace105 of many a long winter evening's curiosity about "antres vast and deserts idle." The Greek and Roman classics were becoming somewhat popularly known through translations. But it is tolerably clear that much of the light reading, and most of the cheapest books, were rubbish spun106 over and over again out of the novels of Bandello, and Boccaccio, and Boisteau, and losing their original elegance107 in hasty and imperfect translations. The taste for such reading received its best counteraction108 when the stage became a noble instrument of popular instruction; and when those who did not frequent the theatres had a wondrous109 store of exciting fiction opened to them by a few plays of Shakspere and many more of his contemporaries. It was in vain that puritanism, such as that of Prynne, denounced "the ordinary reading of Comedies, Tragedies, Arcadias, Amorous110 Histories, Poets," as unlawful. They held their empire till civil war came to put an end to most home-studies, except that of party and polemical pamphlets. But even in the tempestuous111 times {196} that preceded the great outbreak, Sir Henry Wotton, quoting the saying of a Frenchman, laments that "his country was much the worse by old men studying the venom112 of policy, and young men reading the dregs of fancy."
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
reign
|
|
| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
hap
|
|
| n.运气；v.偶然发生 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
illustrated
|
|
| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
legendary
|
|
| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
tract
|
|
| n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
chivalry
|
|
| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
ERECTED
|
|
| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
diffusion
|
|
| n.流布；普及；散漫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
orators
|
|
| n.演说者，演讲家( orator的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
advancement
|
|
| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
predecessors
|
|
| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
dependence
|
|
| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
cardinal
|
|
| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
doctrines
|
|
| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
scriptures
|
|
| 经文，圣典( scripture的名词复数 )； 经典 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
continental
|
|
| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
Oxford
|
|
| n.牛津（英国城市） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
divers
|
|
| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
devout
|
|
| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
exertions
|
|
| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
laity
|
|
| n.俗人；门外汉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
ordinances
|
|
| n.条例，法令( ordinance的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
controversies
|
|
| 争论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
infancy
|
|
| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
generosity
|
|
| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
celebrity
|
|
| n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
curtail
|
|
| vt.截短，缩短；削减 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
enthusiasts
|
|
| n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
constable
|
|
| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
propounded
|
|
| v.提出（问题、计划等）供考虑[讨论]，提议( propound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
influential
|
|
| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
aspiring
|
|
| adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
prevailing
|
|
| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
authentic
|
|
| a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
scanty
|
|
| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
landmarks
|
|
| n.陆标( landmark的名词复数 )；目标；（标志重要阶段的）里程碑 ~ (in sth)；有历史意义的建筑物（或遗址） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
advantageous
|
|
| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
majesty
|
|
| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
conjecture
|
|
| n./v.推测，猜测 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
desperately
|
|
| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
expending
|
|
| v.花费( expend的现在分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
psalms
|
|
| n.赞美诗( psalm的名词复数 )；圣诗；圣歌；(中的) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
laments
|
|
| n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
jealousies
|
|
| n.妒忌( jealousy的名词复数 )；妒羡 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
whatsoever
|
|
| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
undone
|
|
| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
needy
|
|
| adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
adviser
|
|
| n.劝告者，顾问 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
luxurious
|
|
| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
excellence
|
|
| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
overthrow
|
|
| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
thereby
|
|
| adv.因此，从而 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
ballad
|
|
| n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
ballads
|
|
| 民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
testaments
|
|
| n.遗嘱( testament的名词复数 )；实际的证明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
statutes
|
|
| 成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
staple
|
|
| n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
discourse
|
|
| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
poetical
|
|
| adj.似诗人的；诗一般的；韵文的；富有诗意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
valiant
|
|
| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
renowned
|
|
| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
teem
|
|
| vi.(with)充满，多产 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
triumphant
|
|
| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
invective
|
|
| n.痛骂，恶意抨击 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
caterpillars
|
|
| n.毛虫( caterpillar的名词复数 )；履带 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
commonwealth
|
|
| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
honourable
|
|
| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
dedication
|
|
| n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
triflingly
|
|
| 微不足道的； 轻浮的； 无聊的； 懒散的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
dreary
|
|
| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
eschew
|
|
| v.避开，戒绝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
condemn
|
|
| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
shroud
|
|
| n.裹尸布，寿衣；罩，幕；vt.覆盖，隐藏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
apprentices
|
|
| 学徒，徒弟( apprentice的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
contemptible
|
|
| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
stipulated
|
|
| vt.& vi.规定；约定adj.[法]合同规定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
anatomy
|
|
| n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
corrupt
|
|
| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
pervert
|
|
| n.堕落者，反常者；vt.误用，滥用；使人堕落，使入邪路 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
esteemed
|
|
| adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
vendible
|
|
| adj.可销售的，可被普遍接受的n.可销售物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
sagest
|
|
| adj.贤明的，貌似聪明的( sage的最高级 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
89
martyrs
|
|
| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
outlay
|
|
| n.费用，经费，支出；v.花费 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
wares
|
|
| n. 货物, 商品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
warehouse
|
|
| n.仓库；vt.存入仓库 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
treatise
|
|
| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
confession
|
|
| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
interpretation
|
|
| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
lamentation
|
|
| n.悲叹，哀悼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
maiden
|
|
| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
Forsaken
|
|
| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
prodigious
|
|
| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
rudiments
|
|
| n.基础知识，入门 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
gentry
|
|
| n.绅士阶级，上层阶级 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
obsolete
|
|
| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
dozed
|
|
| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
solace
|
|
| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
spun
|
|
| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
elegance
|
|
| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
counteraction
|
|
| 反对的行动，抵抗，反动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
wondrous
|
|
| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
amorous
|
|
| adj.多情的；有关爱情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
tempestuous
|
|
| adj.狂暴的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
venom
|
|
| n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |