SOURCE: John Lyly, Haskell House Publishers, Ltd., 1970, pp. 52-84.

In the following excerpt from an essay originally published in 1905, Wilson explains the importance of Euphues in literary history, discussing Lyly's emphasis on diction, precision, and lucidity; the significance of Lyly's insistence that Euphues and His England was written "for the eyes of ladies"; and the reasons that, although euphuism itself failed, its influence on English prose was profound.

The Position of Euphuism in the History of English Prose.

… A few words remain to be said about this literary curiosity, by way of assigning a place to it in the history of our prose. To do so with any scientific precision is impossible, but there are many points of no small significance in this connexion, which should not be passed over.

English prose at the beginning of the 16th century, that is before the new learning had become a...