University of Virginia Library

“Suffice it to say, that Calavar, throughout, is a romance of very great interest.
It will interest the immaginative from its spirited and stirring seenes of
battle and blood; it will please the poetic from the splendour and beauty of its
descriptions, and it will charm every lover of fiction by the masterly and graphic
scenes which it will continually present to him.”

“The work may fairly rank among the highest efforts of genius, and we do
not scruple to pronounce it superior to any thing of the kind which has yet
emanated from the American press.”

“In our opinion, it is decidedly the best American novel that has been written,
except those enchanting pictures of Cooper, in which the interest is made
to depend on the vicissitudes of the sea, and the adventures of the daring
mariner.”
“The style elegant, sufficiently ornate, yet pure and classical.”
“The period which has been judiciously selected by this writer, is one of the
highest interest—a period so crowded with important events, that it is impossible
to contemplate its vivid scenes without intense curiosity and wonder.”

“The unities are perfectly preserved throughout, poetical probability is never
transgressed; curiosity is satisfied, and the quaint language of three centuries
ago is sustained with unwavering consistency, and with a force and elegance
of composition rarely, if ever, surpassed. It is, without question, the best
American novel that has yet appeared.”

“This collection, made by the young relative himself, is entirely authentic.
The letters were selected from among several hundred, as most fit for publication.
Every one of them is strongly characteristic. They are made up of
excellent instructions to his relative, respecting personal conduct and the culture
of his mind; philosophical remarks; accounts of his own situation and feelings;
notices of his acquaintance, &c.”

“The letters now published exhibit many amiable traits of private character,
and show how keenly he suffered from his own overwrought sensibilities.
They abound in evidences of good feeling, and good sense. As specimens of
epistolary style, they may be safety consulted; while, as furnishing a closer
insight into the views and habits of a man who was misunderstood by many,
and whose history is part of the lustory of his country, they should be read by
all.”

“The admirers of Charles the First, owe no gratitude to Miss Aikin. She
has told too plain a tale. She has given, it is true, no summary of the character
of that monarch, but she has devoted an extensive work to a faithful
relation of his public works and actions, and has left it to tell its story.”

“Following up her interesting career of an historical writer, Lucy Aikin
has here produced one of those episodes belonging to our national annals,
which add to the importance of facts elaborated from many a source, all the
charms which are usually found in the inventions of fiction.
“Suffice it to say, that from family and other papers long hidden from the
public view, new lights are ever and anon shed upon the actors and proceedings
of that time; and that without delving too deeply into them, our
intelligent author has wrought the whole into one of those agreeable narratives
for which her pen is so justly popular.”

“Look here upon this picture, and on this.”

“Miss Leslie hits, skilfully and hard, the follies, foibies, and exceptionable
manners of our meridian. She is perhaps too severe; she draws too broadly,
but she is always more or less entertaining, and conveys salutary lessons even
in her strongest caricatures. Her subjects, incidents, and persons, are happily
chosen for her purposes.”

“Victor Hugo is a most powerful writer—a man of splendid genius, and
gigantic grasp of mind.”

“This is one of the most spirited and romantic of `the season's' production.
Full of life and fire, it excites the reader and carries him onward—
much as the true heroine of the tale, the mare Black Bess, does the true
hero of it, the Robber Turpin—with mingled sensations of terror and
delight. It is a wild story, told with exceeding skill, and wrought up to
the highest pitch of which so singular a subject is capable.—The book is
an excellent one, and the author may take a high station among the
romance writers of our time.”

“A very remarkable performance. It continues in possession of all the
celebrity it once commanded.”

“There are fine things in the `The Canterbury Tales.' Nothing of Scott's
is finer than `The German Tale.' I admired it when a boy, and have continued
to like what I did then. This, I remember, particularly affected me.”

“To read the Canterbury Tales of the Misses Lee once more, is a species of
temporary regeneration. There is scarcely any educated person of this century
who has not, at some time or other, of youth, drawn a sincere pleasure
from these pages. The different tales have been to many like turning down
a leaf in life; we can find our place again in juvenile existence by the associations
connected with them. The Officer's Tale, perhaps, was read on some
sunny bank in a pleasant land—a stolen pleasure. The Young Lady's Tale unfolded
all its intricacy on some fair sofa of a well-remembered apartment. On
the German Tale, perhaps, two hearts beat in unison, trembled in harmony,
and, when sharing a mutual agitation, two heads bent over the mystic page,
they turned round to see each other's fright reflected in well-known and well-loved
features. Even now we feel a shiver running over the frame, as we call
to mind the fearful whisper of the name of Kruitzner, amidts the silent throng
of a kneeling congregation in the cathedrat. Such a memoria technica has its
charm; and we may be pardoned for approaching this number of `The Standard
Novels' with feelings of far more interest than we take up any new novel of
the day.”

“Two delightful volumes, various, graceful, with the pathos exquisitely
relieved by gaiety; and the romantic legend well contrasted by the lively
sketch from actual existence.”

“The author of these volumes merits much higher praise than most of the
pretenders to the palm of genius.”

“The romance of a child of genius.”

“One of those original conceptions that take hold of the public mind at
once and for ever.”

“Certainly one of the most original works that ever proceeded from a
female pen.”

“This work will be universally acceptable.”

“Perhaps there is no modern invention which has taken more thorough
hold of the popular imagination than Frankenstein.”

“De Kock is quite unrivalled in his sketches of Parisian society. There is
much character and spirit thrown into the translation, and the dialogues are
excellent.”

“A good translation of a clever work. Paul de Kock paints to the life the
bourgeois of Paris.”

“We cannot withhold our applause of the subtle spirit of fun, the fine
dramatic tact, and the natural portraiture of character.”

“This work belongs to the historic school; but it has that talent which
bestows its own attraction on whatever subject its peculiar taste may select.”

“An admirable historical romance, full of interest, and with many new
views of character. The plot is extremely well conceived, very artful and
progressing, the story never flags, and you open at once upon the main interest.”

“At last, after having been on the look-out for this long promised novel, with much such impatience as
the schoolboy watches for the cuckoo, who remaining unseen, still keeps him in quest of her, by uttering
some tautalizing note close in his neighbourhood. At last, we have fairly laid hold of this Will o' the
Wisp of a book, the first of its kind, but we hope not the last.”

“The whole work is very amusing.”

“Those who want a few hours of pleasant reading are not likely to meet
with a book more to their taste.”

“The labor and power, as well as knowledge, displayed—the `New Gil Blas'
deserves to stand forth to the public view with every advantage. We have
read these volumes with great delight.”

“A clever and intelligent author. There is a quaint humor and observance
of character in his novels, that interest me very much; and when he chooses
to be pathetic, he feels one to his bent; for, I assure you, the `Entail' beguiled
me of some portion of watery humors, yclept tears, albeit unused to the melting
mood. He has a sly caustic humor that is very amusing.”

“One of the remarkable characteristics of Galt, is to be found in the rare
power he possesses of giving such an appearance of actual truth to his narrative,
as induces the reader to doubt whether that which he is perusing, under
the name of a novel, be not rather a statement of amusing facts, than an
invented story.”

“The perusal of a few pages of the work must impress every reader with
the opinion that the writer is no ordinary person.”

“His pages abound with passages of vigor and beauty, with much fund
for abstract thought; and with groups of incidents which not only fix the
attention of the reader, but awake his admiration.”

“It is one of the most pleasing, chaste, and spirited productions that we
have met with for a long time. We may claim it with pride as an American
production.”

“This is a new `Pelham.' It is altogether a novel of manners, and paints
with truth, and a lively, sketchy spirit, the panorama of fashionable life.”

“Mr. Banim has put forth all the vigor that belongs to the old O'Hara
Tales, and avoided the weakness that sullied his subsequent efforts.”

“There is more tenderness, more delicacy shown in the development of female
character, than we have ever before met with in the works of this powerful
novelist.

“Banim never conceived a character more finely than the young Ghost-Hunter,
Morris Brady. It is a bold and striking outline.”

“It is long since we have met with so bold, spirited, and original a story.”

“We now once more recommend the work itself, and the series, of which
it is a worthy volume, to the public.”

“Decidedly one of the best romances we have ever read.”

“Mr. Ritchie's Tales sometimes amount to the sublime, either in the terrible
exigency or the melting pathos of the event, or in the picturesque energy
of the description.—Schinderhannes may be esteemed as the best work of fiction
for which we are indebted to his pen.”

“Certain we are that very few of our modern novels can produce a character
more admirably drawn than that of Murdock Macara, and Johnson the
quondam tutor; Mr. Bolton and Hulson are sketches that no one but a man
of talent could have conceived, and none but a master could have filled up.”

“It is a publication of no ordinary merit, is written with considerable power,
and embodies a story of deep interest. The Library of Romance has
already an extensive circulation, and deserves still greater.

“The numbers published thus far, are devoted to works of the best description,
and are calculated to entertain without offending a single moral precept.”

“There are some fine passages, and touches of strong descriptive powers of
nature and characters.”

“The auto-biography in this volume is equal to Mr. Galt's best days, and
even his subordinate characters are worthy to be recorded in the Annals of
the Parish.”

“The Stolen Child is a most cleverly managed story.

“We do not think any one ever exceeded Mr. Galt in sketching national
portraits—they are preserved as if for a museum of natural curiosities.”

“A story of considerable interest.”

“A very picturesque and interesting story, and laid during a period which
well deserves illustration.”

“One of those stirring narrations that give a picture of the times, and take
along the reader with the events, as if he was indeed a part of what he read.
This series of romances has thus far maintained its character for novelty and
raciness, and while the whole is worthy of especial commendation, each number
is in itself a complete story.”

“The narrative embraces one of the most interesting periods of English history,
and is full of life and spirit. The character of Wat Tyler is well depicted.”

“In this abridged tale from Victor Hugo, may the readers of wonderful incidents
`woo terror to delight' them. The attention is aroused, and maintained
to a frenzied state of excitement anxious to be satisfied with similar details.”

“We proceed to assure the reader, who has it before him, that he will enjoy
an intellectual treat of no mean order. The principal feature of its excellence
is an all-engrossing interest, which interest is mainly attributable to the
extreme vraisemblance of its incidents, and the fidelity with which each
character supports its individuality. In it there is as much invention and
originality as we have ever met with in a modern novel, be the author who
he may.”

“The moral of the tale carries conviction as to the justness of its applicability,
and the incidents flow as naturally as the stream of events in everyday
life.”

“Here is a novel from a deservedly popular author, written with great ease
and sprightliness.”

“We cannot but predict a warm reception of this work among all persons
who have not lost their relish for nature and probability, as well as all those
who can properly estimate the beauties of simplicity in thought and expression.”

“One of the cleverest of the last publications written on this or the other
side of the Atlantic.”

“The style is admirable, and the sketches of character, men, and scenery,
so fresh and agreeable, that we cannot help feeling that they are drawn from
nature.”

“These pages are pictures from scenes whose impress of truth tells that the
author has taken them as an eye-witness; and many are rich in quiet, simple
pathos, which is evidently his forte.”

“We always regarded the novels of Godwin as grand productions. No one
ever more forcibly portrayed the workings of the mind, whether it were in its
joyous hilarity of happiness, or in the sublime agonies of despair. His tales,
if we may so express it, have each but one character, and one end; but that
character, how all-absorbing in interest, and how vividly depicted; and that
end, how consistent with its preliminaries, how satisfactory, and how beautiful!”

“We must content ourselves by commending the good use our fair
author has made of her materiel, which she has invested with the grace
and existence of her own poetical imagination. The character of Monia
is a conception as original as it is exquisite.”

“The author of Frankenstein has made a romance of great and enduring
interest. We recommend Perkin Warbeck to the public attention. It
cannot fail to interest as a novel, while it may impart useful instruction as
a history.”

“This is another admirable production from the prolific pen of Mr. Bulwer—
distinguished by the same profundity of thought and matchless humor which
are so happily combined in all his writings.”

“Our readers have felt that the impassioned pen of the author of Eugene
Aram has not lost its power in these sketches.”

“There are few works of fiction, so acceptable in republication as the Novels
of Miss Austen.

“They never weary, their interest is never lost, for, as in the prints of Hogarth,
we find fresh matter for admiration upon every renewal of our acquaintance.
In her works the scene is before us with all the reality of thworld,
and, free from the engrossment of acting a part in it, we discover points
of interest which a divided attention had overlooked.

“Her merit considered, her perfection in one style, Miss Austen is the worst
appreciated Novelist of her time. The Quarterly Review, (to its honor be it
remembered,) was the first critical authority which did justice to her merits,
and that after the grave closed over her unconscious and modest genius.

“It is remarkable that Scott, who noticed with praise many inferior authors,
never mentioned Miss Austen.”

“The pictures here given of German life have an interest which to us is perfectly
irresistible.”

“The work under our notice has great claims to the consideration of every
reader who likes good tales, in which he will find every thing in keeping.”

“These most original stories are replete with incidents, scenes, and char
acters that will dwell upon the mind they have amused; some of them have
the conciseness, wit, and satirical point, of Voltaire's sparkling romance, but
without their mockery of all that is sacred and virtuous. We rise from their
perusal with our hearts warmed for our fellow-men, and with our love and
interest increased for this world.”

“Delaware is a work of talent in every sense of the word. The plot is full
of interest, the characters are sketched with vitality and vigor, and the
style is neat and flowing throughout.”

“Delaware is a tale of much amusement and interest. We heartily commend
it to our readers as a very pleasant and very clever work.”

“Delaware is an original novel by an able man.”

“The story is well told, the characters clearly unfolded, and the conclusion
natural and satisfactory.”

“This work is supposed by eminent critics to be the chef-d'œuvre of the
author.”

“Mr. Ritchie is by far our best writer of romantic and imaginative tales,”
was the dictum of the Literary Gazette—and the Atlas pronounces him “the
Scott of the short, picturesque, and bold story.”

“The power of fascinating the reader, of chaining him down, as it were,
while his fancy is tormented by terrible imaginings, is the principal characteristic
of Mr. Leitch Ritchie's pictures.”

“The Irish scenes are entitled to warm commendation, they are written
with equal good feeling and good sense; while Grace Cassidy is a sweet and
touching portrait.” &c. &c.

“The description of the Fete is in easy, graceful, flowing verse, and the
songs with which it is interspersed are, unlike many of those which that
gifted poet has published, unexceptionable in their moral tendency.”

“Many of the songs interspersed are pretty and pleasing, and savor of
the usual richness of sentiment and luxuriance of style habitual to Moore.
We can willingly recommend the work to all ladies, and lovers of good
poetry.”