Excerpt from Seven Champions of Christendom<br><br>The materials which Johnson has so skilfully worked up into a history, equally poetic and romantic, he doubtless found in the traditional tales and knight errantry common in his day throughout Europe, and which have been largely drawn upon by the romance writers of other countries. There are occasional de tails and allusions in the original version, which, although, if judged by the standard of the period, they could not fairly be objected to, have been omitted in the present edition, as perhaps too coarse for the more sensitive modern reader; and the work generally has been slightly condensed, where this could be done without affecting the continuity of the narrative.<br><br>It is believed that, in its present form, the Famous Historie will be acceptable to many who have but a dim recollection of the fascination of its pages before the existing phalanx of modern novels had almost driven it from the field, and will be welcome reading to the youth of both sexes who have had no farther opportunity of making the acquaintance of its heroes than that afforded by the exploits of St George and the Dragon in the arena of an amphitheatre.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.