Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield (Preface)

Literary reputation of Irish-born British writer Oliver Goldsmith rests on his novel

The Vicar of Wakefield

(1766), the pastoral poem

The Deserted Village

(1770), and the dramatic comedy

She Stoops to Conquer

(1773).

This Anglo-Irish poet, dramatist, novelist, and essayist wrote, translated, or compiled more than forty volumes. Good sense, moderation, balance, order, and intellectual honesty mark the works for which people remember him.