The book explains that writings of Shakespeare have been justly termed "the richest, the purest, the fairest, that genius uninspired ever penned." His plays alone, contain more actual wisdom than the whole body of English learning. He is the teacher of all good-pity, generosity, true courage, love. His bright wit is cut out "into little stars." His solid masses of knowledge are meted out in morsels and proverbs, and thus distributed, there is scarcely a corner of the English-speaking world to-day which he does not illuminate, or a cottage which he does not enrich. His bounty is like the sea, which, though often unacknowledged, is everywhere felt. He ever kept the highroad of human life whereon all travel. In his creations we have no moral highwaymen, sentimental thieves, interesting villains, and amiable, elegant adventuresses - no delicate entanglements of situation, in which the grossest images are presented to the mind disguised under the superficial attraction of style and sentiment.

Edith Nesbit (15 August 1858—4 May 1924) was an English author and poet; she published her books for children under the name of E. Nesbit. She wrote or collaborated on over 60 books of fiction for children. She was also a political activist and co-founded the Fabian Society, a socialist organisation later affiliated to the Labour Party. She created an innovative body of work that combined realistic, contemporary children in real-world settings with magical objects – what would now be classed as contemporary fantasy – and adventures and sometimes travel to fantastic worlds. Nesbit also wrote for adults, including eleven novels, short stories and four collections of horror stories.