Aspects of the Novel

the crablike movement, the shiftings of the passengers, might be visible, and the phrase “the development of the novel” might cease to be a pseudo-scholarly tag or a technical triviality, and become important, because it implied the development of humanity.

Endnotes

1. Le Roman Anglais de Notre Temps. By Abel Chevalley, (Oxford University Press, New York.) ↩

2. I have touched on this theory of inspiration in a short essay called “Anonymity.” (Hogarth Press, London.) ↩

3. Paraphrased from Système des Beaux Arts, pp. 314⁠–⁠315. I am indebted to M. André Maurois for introducing me to this stimulating essay. ↩

4. Translated by Dorothy Bussy as The Counterfeiters (Knopf). ↩

5. Paraphrased from Les Faux Monnayeurs, pp. 238⁠–⁠246. My version, needless to say, conveys neither the subtlety nor the balance of the original. ↩

6. Ulysses (Shakespeare & Co., Paris) is not at present obtainable in England. America, more enlightened, has produced a mutilated version without the author’s permission and without paying him a cent. ↩

7. Only to be found in a collected edition. For knowledge of it, and for much else, I am indebted to Mr. John Freeman’s admirable monograph on Melville. ↩

8. See that sound and brilliant essay, The Structure of Wuthering Heights, by C. P. S. (Hogarth Press.) ↩

9. There is a masterly analysis of The Ambassadors from another standpoint in The Craft of Fiction. ↩

10. See the Letters of H. James, Vol. II. ↩

11. The first three books of À la recherche du temps perdu have been excellently translated by C. K. Scott Moncrieff under the title of Remembrance of Things Past. (A. & C. Boni.) ↩

Colophon

Aspects of the Novel
was published in 1927 by
E. M. Forster.

This ebook was produced for
Standard Ebooks
by
David Reimer,
and is based on a transcription produced in 2023 by
Laura Natal Rodrigues
for
Project Gutenberg
and on digital scans from the
Internet Archive.

The cover page is adapted from
Stapels Franse Romans,
a painting completed in 1887 by
Vincent van Gogh.
The cover and title pages feature the
League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy
typefaces created in 2014 and 2009 by
The League of Moveable Type.

The first edition of this ebook was released on
July 17, 2025, 6:47 p.m.
You can check for updates to this ebook, view its revision history, or download it for different ereading systems at
standardebooks.org/ebooks/e-m-forster/aspects-of-the-novel.

The volunteer-driven Standard Ebooks project relies on readers like you to submit typos, corrections, and other improvements. Anyone can contribute at standardebooks.org.

Uncopyright

May you do good and not evil.
May you find forgiveness for yourself and forgive others.
May you share freely, never taking more than you give.

Copyright pages exist to tell you that you can’t do something. Unlike them, this Uncopyright page exists to tell you that the writing and artwork in this ebook are believed to be in the United States public domain; that is, they are believed to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. The United States public domain represents our collective cultural heritage, and items in it are free for anyone in the United States to do almost anything at all with, without having to get permission.

Copyright laws are different all over the world, and the source text or artwork in this ebook may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you’re not located in the United States, you must check your local laws before using this ebook. Standard Ebooks makes no representations regarding the copyright status of the source text or artwork in this ebook in any country other than the United States.

Non-authorship activities performed on items that are in the public domain⁠—so-called “sweat of the brow” work⁠—don’t create a new copyright. That means that nobody can claim a new copyright on an item that is in the public domain for, among other things, work like digitization, markup, or typography. Regardless, the contributors to this ebook release their contributions under the terms in the CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication, thus dedicating to the worldwide public domain all of the work they’ve done on this ebook, including but not limited to metadata, the titlepage, imprint, colophon, this Uncopyright, and any changes or enhancements to, or markup on, the original text and artwork. This dedication doesn’t change the copyright status of the source text or artwork. We make this dedication in the interest of enriching our global cultural heritage, to promote free and libre culture around the world, and to give back to the unrestricted culture that has given all of us so much.