Though most well-known as the “Prince of Preachers,” C. H. Spurgeon was also the founder of and a lecturer at the Pastor’s College in London, later renamed “Spurgeon’s College” in his honor. The Art of Illustration is a posthumously published series of lectures given by Spurgeon late in his life to students at the college on the subject of improving their sermons through the use of metaphors, anecdotes, and other illustrations to strengthen the understanding and retention of the sermon by its listeners. Together, the lectures form a complete guide to the use of illustrations in preaching, from the introduction on how illustrations provide value, to demonstrating how to find or create illustrations, not only from mundane, everyday stories but also from the natural sciences. Being at the same time an academic, a voracious reader, and one of the most widely published Baptist preachers in history, Spurgeon brings a unique combination of expertise to the subject of illustration in public speech.
