A. Period of Preparation. From Caedmon’s Paraphrase, (670), to the death of Chaucer (1400).

1. I. Prior to Chaucer’s birth (1340?).
2. Beowulf.
3. Caedmon, ?-680.
4. Bede, 673-735.
5. II. During Chaucer’s life.
6. Sir John Mandeville, 1300-1372.
7. John Wyclif, 1324-1384.
8. William Langland, Piers Plowman, 1332-?.
9. CHAUCER, 1340?-1400.

B. Period of Accomplishment. From the death of Chaucer to present time.

1. I. The Period of Italian Influence. From the death of Chaucer to the Restoration of Charles II (1660).
2. 1. The Age of Reaction. From the death of Chaucer to the Accession of Queen Elizabeth (1558).
3. Malory, Morte d’Arthur.
4. William Tyndale, 1449-1536.
5. 2. The Age of Elizabeth. From 1558 to 1603, the Accession of James I.
6. John Lyly, 1554?-1606.
7. FRANCIS BACON, 1561-1626.
8. Sir Philip Sidney, 1554-1586.
9. Sir Walter Raleigh, 1552-1618.
10. EDMUND SPENSER, 1552-1599.
11. Christopher Marlowe, 1564-1593.
12. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, 1564-1616.
13. Ben Jonson, 1573-1637.
14. Francis Beaumont, 1584-1616.
15. John Fletcher, 1579-1625.
16. 3. The Puritan Age. From the Accession of James I to the Restoration of Charles II (1660).
17. Izaak Walton, 1593-1683.
18. Jeremy Taylor, 1613-1667.
19. Sir Thomas Browne, 1605-1682.
20. John Bunyan, 1628-1688.
21. JOHN MILTON, 1608-1674.
22. Robert Herrick, 1591-1674.
23. II. The Period of French Influence. From the Restoration of Charles II to the death of Pope (1744).
24. 1. Age of the Restoration. From the Restoration of Charles II to the Accession of Queen Anne (1702).
25. Samuel Butler, 1612-1680.
26. JOHN DRYDEN, 1631-1700.
27. John Locke, 1632-1704.
28. Samuel Pepys, 1633-1703.
29. Sir Isaac Newton, 1642-1727.
30. 2. The Age of Queen Anne. From the Accession of Queen Anne to the death of Pope.
31. Jonathan Swift, 1667-1745.
32. Daniel De Foe, 1661?-1731.
33. Richard Steele, 1672-1729.
34. JOSEPH ADDISON, 1662-1745.
35. ALEXANDER POPE, 1688-1744.
36. III. The Modern English Period. From the death of Pope to the present time.
37. 1. The Beginnings. From the death of Pope to 1780.
38. Samuel Richardson, 1689-1761.
39. Henry Fielding, 1707-1754.
40. Dr. Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784.
41. David Hume, 1711-1776.
42. Laurence Sterne, 1713-1768.
43. Thomas Gray, 1716-1771.
44. Tobias George Smollett, 1721-1771.
45. OLIVER GOLDSMITH, 1728-1774.
46. Edmund Burke, 1729-1797.
47. Edward Gibbon, 1737-1794.
48. 2. The Romantic School. From 1780 to 1837, the Accession of Queen Victoria.
49. William Cowper, 1731-1800.
50. Robert Burns, 1759-1796.
51. WILLIAM WORDSWORTH, 1770-1850.
52. SIR WALTER SCOTT, 1771-1832.
53. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1772-1834.
54. Robert Southey, 1774-1843.
55. Charles Lamb, 1775-1834.
56. Lord Byron, 1788-1824.
57. Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1792-1822.
58. John Keats, 1795-1821.
59. 3. The Victorian Age. From the Accession of Victoria to the present time.
60. Thomas Carlyle, 1795-1881.
61. Thomas Macaulay, 1800-1859.
62. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806-1861.
63. ALFRED TENNYSON, 1809-1892.
64. William Makepeace Thackeray, 1811-1863.
65. Charles Dickens, 1812-1870.
66. Robert Browning, 1812-1889.
67. John Ruskin, 1819-1900.
68. GEORGE ELIOT, 1819-1880.
69. Matthew Arnold, 1822-1888.
70. Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850-1894.