 | The wilderness and the war path |  |
WILEY & PUTNAM'S
LIBRARY OF AMERICAN BOOKS
No. I.
JOURNAL OF AN AFRICAN CRUISER.
Journal of an African Cruiser. Edited by Nathaniel Hawthorne. 1 vol.,
beautifully printed, 50 cents.
“This Journal is freshly and cleverly written, and touches on a scene
little hackneyed by journalists or travellers. He writes unaffectedly on
most subjects and often with great animation.'
—London Examiner.
“This is an unpretending, lively, little volume. The Journal adds something
to our previous knowledge, and that, in an amusing manner.”
—London
Atlas.
“The subject has the advantage of novelty; as, although an extensive
commerce is carried on along the coast by British merchants, the captains
they employ are not exactly of a literary turn; neither do the officers of our
royal navy appear anxious to give the public the result of their experience
—weighed down, perhaps, by the pestiferous climate and the arduous character
of their labors; whilst the dreaded pestilence effectually stops the
tourist in search of the picturesque. To our recollection, the last dozen
years have only produced three books touching upon Western Africa; that
of Holman, the blind traveller, who called at Sierra Leone and Cape Coast
Castle, but of course saw nothing; Ranken's `White Man's Grave,' which
was confined to Sierra Leone, and which preferred the attractions of literary
effect to solid accuracy; with Dr. Madden's semi-official reports, which
were obnoxious to the same remark with a bias superadded. Hence, the
`Journal of an African Cruiser' is not only fresh in its subject, but informing
in its matter, especially in relation to the experiment of Liberia. It
has the further advantage of giving us an American view of the slave trade
and the Negro character, without the prejudices of the southern planter, or
the fanaticism of the abolitionist.”
—London Spectator.
“As pleasant and intelligent a specimen of American Literature written
in a candid, observant, and gentlemanly spirit, as has appeared since first
the Literary Gazette welcomed Washington Irving to the British Shore.”
—London Lit. Gaz. July 19, 1845.
“A very entertaining volume, a worthy leader of the series of American
Books.”
—Smith's Weekly Volume.
“We pronounce it a work of uncommon interest and merit.”
—Rover.
“This is the title of a book just issued by Wiley & Putnam, as No. 1 of
their proposed Library of American Books, a series intended to embrace
original works of merit and interest, from the pens of American
authors. The design can scarcely fail to be successful. We have a firm
faith that books well worth reading,—as well worth it as English books of
the same class,—can be produced in this country; and such books, and
such only, we presume Messrs. Wiley & Putnam intend to publish in their
series. This first number is well worthy of its place. It is the journal of
an officer on board an American cruiser on the coast of Africa,—and relates
to a field hitherto almost entirely unnoticed by travelling authors. It is
written in a plain, straightforward, unambitious style, and evinces a very
keen talent for observation, and sound judgment and enlightened discrimination.
The book is edited by Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of the most
gifted writers in this country, whose works, we trust, will find a place in
this series. The volume is very handsomely printed, and sold at fifty
cents.”
—New York Courier.
“This is a pleasantly written Journal of a cruise to the western coast of
Africa, and embodies a good amount of valuable information. The author
spent some time at Liberia, and gives quite a flattering account of the colony.
We like the spirit of the work, and especially admire the simplicity
and grace of its style.”
—N. Y. Evangelist.
No. II.
POE'S TALES.
Tales. By Edgar A. Poe. 1 vol., beautifully printed in large clear type,
on fine paper, 50 cents.
This collection includes the most characteristic of the peculiar series
of Tales written by Mr. Poe. Among others will be found “The Murders
of the Rue Morgue,” “The Purloined Letter,” “Marie Roget,” “The
House of Usher,” “The Black Cat,” “The Gold Bug,” “The Descent
into the Maelstrom,” “The Premature Burial,” “Mesmeric Revelations,”
&c., &c.
“Most characteristic tales and stories.”
—Boston Courier
“These effusions are well known, and have been well appreciated. Mr.
Poe's singular and powerful style of prose writing, has a charm which
ought to be enjoyed more than once.”
—U. S. Gazette.
“Mr. Poe's tales are written with much power, while all possess deep
interest.”
—Phila. Inquirer.
light in the pages of a two or three dollar magazine, who are at least equal
to some foreign authors whose works are reprinted here in the cheap and
nasty style by the cart-load. The consequence is that our own authors are
scarcely heard of, while Mrs. Gore and Mary Howitt, Lover, Lever, &c.,
&c, are lauded and read the country over. This is all wrong, and we
familiar with the past, not merely cognizant of it. There is the same difference
between them and statelier records, as between Macready's Coriolanus
and Placide's Grandfather Whitehead.
“Another capital feature in this series of books, is the bringing out of
Hazlitt's writings in a style such as their merits deserve. William Hazlitt
possessed one of the acutest minds of his day. He lived upon literature
and art. He was one of those men who seem born to make others appreciate
genius. His perceptions were singularly keen and observant, and his
powers of reflection of a high order. In many respects he is an excellent
guide to truth, setting an example by his vigorous independence of thought,
his earnestness of sympathy, and refined definitions of artistic excellence
and personal character. At the same time he was a man of strong prejudices
and perverted feelings. He is not to be implicitly followed, but to be
read with constant discrimination. In his `Table-Talk,' which forms two
numbers of the `Library,' there are innumerable attractive reminiscences
of books and men, and suggestions of rare value both for the writer, the
artist, and the man who desires to improve the advantages which nature
bestows. We know of few writers who, with all his defects, are so alive
as Hazlitt. He had that mental activity which is contagious, and has done
no little good by setting minds of more equanimity upon the track of progress.
It appears this collection of essays is to be followed by his other
works. They will be a valuable accession to the current literature of the
day.
“It is obvious from this hasty survey, that there are two particulars in
which these books deserve the name of `Choice Literature;' and which
honorably distinguish them from the mass of reprints that has deluged the
land with cheap reading. They contain ideas, and they have a style. The
former will furnish the hungry mind, and the latter will refine the crude
taste, so that an actual benefit, independent of the diversion attending such
reading, will certainly accrue. We have dwelt at unusual length upon this
series of books, because we regard their appearance and popularity as the
best sign of the times, as far as literature is concerned, which we can now
discern. The apathy of our publishers, in regard to all compositions offered
them, except fiction, and that of the most vapid kind; the apparent
success of the cheap system, and the `angels' visits' of works of real merit,
seemed to indicate a fatal lapse of wholesome taste.
“The `Library of Choice Literature,' was started on a different principle.
It appealed to good sense and the love of beauty, rather than to a morbid
appetite for excitement. We therefore regard the favorable reception
it has met with, as evidence that the public in the end, will, after trying all
things, hold fast that which is good. We shall look for the American series,
advertised by the publishers, with great interest. While we have
criticism like that which occasionally redeems our periodical literature,
such a prose poet as Hawthorne, such a speculative essayist as Emerson,
such a brilliant tale writer as Willis, to say nothing of adepts in other departments,
surely there is no difficulty in making a very respectable American
Library of Choice Literature.”
—N. Y. Evening Post.
I.
EOTHEN.
Eöthen; or Traces of Travel brought home from the East
Price 50 cents.
“One of the most delightful and brilliant works, ever published—independent
of its prepossessing externals, a convenient book form, good paper
and legible type.”
—N. Y. Mirror.
“An agreeable and instructive work.”
—Albion.
“We have read this work with great pleasure, for it is indeed lively and
sparkling throughout; it will not only please the careless skimmer of light
literature, but the ripe scholar must be delighted with it.”
—Richmond
Times.
“This is one of the cleverest books of travels ever written.”
—N. Y. Post
“Eothen is one of the most attractive books of travels that have been
given to the public, and has been received in England with high commendations.”
—Newark Advertiser.
II.
THE AMBER WITCH.
Mary Schweidler, the Amber Witch, the most interesting trial for
Witchcraft ever known, printed from an imperfect manuscript by her
father, Abraham Schweidler, the pastor of Coserow, in the island of
Usedom. Edited by W. Meinhold, Doctor of Theology, Pastor, &c.,
translated from the German by Lady Duff Gordon. Price 37½ cents.
The London Quarterly Review describes this as one of the most
remarkable productions of the day. It seems that a certain sect of German
Philosophers (the school of Tubingen) had declared themselves such adepts
of criticism that they could tell the authenticity of everything from the
style. This work was written by Dr. Meinhold, when one of their students;
and he subsequently published it to test their theory. It was published as
a matter of fact, in its present form. All Germany was non-plussed. It
was finally determined by the critics (especially the infallible critics of
Tubingen) that it was truth and reality. Finally Dr. Meinhold, in a German
paper, acknowledged himself the author, and that it was purely fictitious.
The German critics, however, will hardly believe him on his word.
“The work is written, say the reviewers, with admirable skill, so much
so that it rivals the Robinson Crusoe of De Foe This is saying enough”
—Cincin. Chron.
III.
UNDINE AND SINTRAM.
Undine, translated from the German of La Motte Fouqué, by Rev
Thomas Tracy, with Sintram and his Companions. Price 50 cents
“Undine is a universal favorite; one of the most simply beautiful and perfectly
constructed stories in the whole German Literature. The sentiment
of the story is as pure and unbroken as the fountains so often introduced,
which in the midst of perpetual change and action are always he same.
The whole atmosphere of the piece is vapory and gauzelike. It is one of
those conceptions of genius which, once taken into the mind, feed it for ever.
If there are any of our readers who have not yet learnt to value Undine, they
have a new enjoyment in store for themselves. The present translation is
a copyright one, that of Rev. Thomas Tracy, printed now for the fifth time,
and with the last corrections of the translator. Sintram, the tale which
accompanies Undine, is here published, for the first time, in this country
It introduces us into the midst of the old northern chivalry, at its first
meeting with the Christianity of the south, before the former had yielded its
early barbarity and fierceness. The contrast between the cloister and the
hunting field and wassail chamber is powerfully presented; the dark powers
of the air still hover over the land, but within the breast there is a great
conflict between the light and darkness, the peace and war. In Sintram
this struggle is introduced. It is the warfare which goes on in the heart of
every man who is assailed by temptation and preserved by faith.”
—Dem.
Review.
IV.
IMAGINATION AND FANCY.
Imagination and Fancy; or selections from the English poets, illustrative
of those requisites of their art; with markings of the best passages, critical
notices of the writers, and an Essay in answer to the question, “What is
Poetry” by Leigh Hunt. Price 50 cents.
“Mr. Leigh Hunt's work is one of those unmistakable gems about which
no two people differ widely; accordingly, the whole press has pronounced
but one verdict, and that verdict favorable. Yet friends and foes unite in
praising `Imagination and Fancy.' The reason is simple,—the excellence
of the book is genuine, evident, distorted by no systematic bias, injured by
no idiosyncrasy. It is really and truly an exquisite selection of lovely passages,
accompanied with critical notices of unusual worth.”
—Westminster
Review.
“We might extract numberless gems of thought and feeling from this
volume, if our limits would permit. We can cordially recommend it to the
lovers of poetry, as a volume wherein they may have a pleasant colloquy
with the genial spirit of Leigh Hunt, on some of the noblest and finest
specimens of imagination and fancy which literature contains.”
—Graham's
Magazine.
V.
DIARY OF LADY WILLOUGHBY.
So much of the Diary of Lady Willoughby as relates to her Domestic History,
and to the Eventful period of the reign of Charles I. Price 25 cts.
“`Lady Willoughby's Diary' has doubtless, before this, found its way
to a thousand hands and hearts. It is a sort of `sacra privata,' a revelation
still a revelation that all will be happy to believe in. It is hard to teli
which most to admire, the skill of the author in sustaining so successfully
the vraisemblance at which he aimed, or his truth to nature, the same in
the seventeenth as the nineteenth century.”
—N. Y. Post.
“This book is more like lifting the lid of the lily's heart, and seeing how
the perfume is distilled, than anything less poetical that we can think of
It is so far within the beginnings of common observation—so exquisitely
delicate and subtle—so truthful withal, and such a picture of nature's lady-likeness—that,
to some appreciation, it would have been a pity if angels
alone had read such a heart-book, in the one turning over of its leaves of
life.”
—N. Y. Mirror.
“This is a charming little work. The simple but antique style of language
in which it is clothed, together with much that is beautiful in
thought and expression, and an exquisitely drawn picture of domestic life
among those of rank and consequence in olden time, stamps the work with
a novelty and interest which is quite rare.”
—American Republican.
“This is a delightful book. It is full of sweet domestic pictures, a mixture
of enjoyment and trial, a development of the character of an affectionate,
trusting wife and mother. The delineation of true piety, the believing,
prayerful and submissive spirit, mingled in these pages, must have come
from personal experience.”
—N. Y. Evangelist.
“This is a very pleasing and interesting little book, as a picture, clear in
tone, and in good keeping.—We cordially recommend the work.”
—N. Y.
Tribune.
“We briefly noticed this delightful book yesterday, but would again call
attention to it, as it is full of exquisite pathos. We confess it took us by
surprise, and mightily disturbed our self-possession. Every parent will
appreciate it.”
—Cincinnati Herald.
VI. & IX.
HAZLITT'S WORKS.
Table Talk.—Opinions on Books, Men and Things. By William
Hazlitt. First American Edition. In Two Parts. Beautifully
printed in large, clear type, on fine paper—(forming Nos. 6 and 9 of
the Library of Choice Reading).—Price each 37½ cents.
Contents.—Essay 1. On the Pleasure of Painting. 2. The same subject
continued. 3. On the Past and Future. 4. On People with one Idea.
5. On the Ignorance of the Learned. 6. On Will-Making. 7. On a
Landscape of Nicolas Poussin. 8. On Going a Journey. 9. Why distant
objects please. 10. On Corporate Bodies. 11. On the Knowledge of Character.
12. On the Fear of Death. 13. On Application to Study. 14.
On the Old Age of Artists. 15. On Egotism. 16. On the Regal Character.
Contents.—Essay 17. On the look of a Gentleman. 18. On Reading Old
Books. 19. On Personal Character. 20. On Vulgarity and Affectation
21. On Antiquity. 22. Advice to a School Boy. 23. The Indian Jugglers
24. On the Prose Style of Poets. 25. On the Conversation of Authors
28. Of Persons one would wish to have seen. 29. Shyness of Scholars.
30. On Old English Writers and Speakers.
“We are glad to see that this capital series continues to meet with great
favor. It is the best selection of popular reading which we have yet seen
issued in this country. We cannot but hope that this Sixth number is but
the beginning of a complete or nearly complete republication of Hazlitt's
Miscellanies. In our judgment, he was one of the most brilliant and
attractive Prose writers, and decidedly the best Critic which England has
produced in the Nineteenth Century. No man ever had a more exquisite
and profound feeling of all the beauties of a great author than Hazlitt
Coleridge imagined more splendidly for the author who pleased him, oftentimes
creating a beauty for his Idol which no other vision less keen than his
own could discern. Charles Lamb dissected an occasional vein of Fancy or
Feeling with more dexterous Tact Wilson romanced and hyperbolized
about a great writer with a more gushing and copious Eloquence. Leigh
Hunt—the Critic of details—sometimes detected with more unerring accuracy,
the music of a cadence, or the gleam of a metaphor. Jeffrey summed
up the whole case of an author's defects and merits with a more lawyer-like
completeness and precision. And Macaulay certainly excels Hazlitt, as he
excels all his critical compeers, in that marvellous power of analysis
and generalization, which always enables him to render a cogent and conclusive
reason for the whole literary faith that is in him. But as a critical
help toward a just appreciation of a great masterwork, Hazlitt is the best
of them all. His taste was just as sensitive and fastidious as it could be
without losing its manliness and health. His criticisms, in fact, want
nothing but a severe logic. Admirably as he always applies the Canons of
a just taste, he is not successful, comparatively, when he attempts to expound
the principles in which they are founded. Some great Lawyers are called
Case Lawyers, because they apply precedents with great felicity, while
they are incapable of seizing, in a broad and strong grasp, the Philosophy
of Legislation. In this sense, Hazlitt was a Case Critic. He saw and felt
with admirable distinctness, the Critical truth in the Case before him, but
he seemed to lack the power or habit requisite to form a Philosophy of
Criticism. There is no system in his literary and artistic judgments. This
is the more remarkable, because, in the domain of metaphysical speculation,
he was certainly a very bold, acute, and vigorous thinker. Hazlitt's Miscellaneous
Essays are certainly most pleasant and suggestive reading; yet to
us, they have always seemed inferior to his Criticisms. They often display,
indeed, great shrewdness of observation and an almost unparalleled
vividness of Fancy; but sometimes they wander far out of sight both of
truth and fact. On the whole, however, the writings of Hazlitt are eminently
in their place in this `Library of Choice Reading,' and we hope
the Publishers will soon give us more of them.”
—The New World
“The writings of William Hazlitt display much originality and genius,
united with great critical acuteness and brilliancy of fancy.”
—Encyclopedia
Britannica.
“The great merits of Hazlitt as a writer are a force and ingenuity of illustration,
strength, terseness and vivacity... But his chief title to fame is derived
from his Essays on objects of Taste and Literature, which are deservedly
popular. In a number of fine passages, which one would read not only
once, but again and again, we hardly know in the whole circle of English
Literature any writer who can match Hazlitt.”
—Penny Cyclopedia.
“His criticisms, while they extend our insight into the causes of poetical
excellence, teach us, at the same time, more keenly to enjoy and more
fondly to revere it.”
—Edinburgh Review.
“A man of decided genius, and one of the most remarkable writers of the
age was William Hazlitt, whose bold and vigorous tone of thinking, and
acute criticisms on Poetry, the Drama and Fine Arts, will ever find a host of
admirers. His style is sparkling, pungent and picturesque.”
—Chambers'
English Literature.
“A highly original thinker and writer—his `Table-Talk' possesses very
considerable merit.”
—British Cyclopedia.
“Hazlitt's Works do credit to his abilities.”
—Literary Gazette.
“He displays great fertility and acute powers of mind; and his style is
sparkling and elegant.”
—Blake.
“Hazlitt never wrote one dull nor one frigid line. If we were called
upon to point out the Critic and Essayist whose impress is stamped the
deepest and most sharply upon the growing mind of young England, we
should certainly name the eloquent Hazlitt.”
—Tait's Magazine.
“Each Essay is a pure gathering of the author's own mind, and not filched
from the world of books, in which thieving is so common, and all strike out
some bold and original thinking, and give some vigorous truths in stern and
earnest language. They are written with infinite spirit and thought. There
are abundance of beauties to delight all lovers of nervous English prose, let
them be ever so fastidious.”
—New Monthly Magazine.
“He is at home in the closet, in the fresh fields, in the studies.”
—Literary
Gazette.
“Choice reading indeed! It is not often that we meet with a book so
attractive. We are not sure but that we should have read all the morning
in this book, had not the entrance of certain very troublesome characters,
called compositors, broken our enjoyment with the question—`Any more
copy, sir?' As long as Wiley & Putnam will publish such books, the public
need not buy the half legible trash of the day, for the sake of getting
cheap books.”
—American Traveller.
“These Essays comprise many of the best things that Hazlitt ever said,
and this is high praise; enough, at least, to commend the book to all who
take delight in such reading as the Essays of Elia, or Christopher North,
with whom he is a kindred spirit, a class which it is a happiness to believe
is by no means inconsiderable in point of numbers. There is something
particularly fascinating about these dissertations. Their easy, intimate
style wins the reader into a true feeling of sympathy and companionship
with the writer.”
—N. Y Post.
VII.
HEADLONG HALL AND NIGHTMARE ABBEY.
Headlong Hall and Nightmare Abbey, by Thomas Lov Peacock
Price 37½ cents.
“This is a witty, amusing book.”
—N. Y. Tribune.
“The seventh is a satirical performance, reflecting the spirit and form of
the age with great skill and force, entitled Headlong Hall, with a sequel,
Nightmare Abbey. It has points of great excellence and attraction, and is
imbued with a spirit of humor which well sets off the author's opinions.
If the reader of the work is not a better man for its lessons, it will be his
own fault.”
—N. Y Evangelist.
“These are tales which may be read over a dozen times and will be as
fresh at the last as at the first perusal. New points of wit, humor, and sarcasm
are always appearing.”
—London News.
“Were we to be asked our private opinion as to who is the wittiest writer
in England, we should say the author of Headlong Hall. Perhaps no man
has seen the follies of his day with a clearer and juster eye than the present
author; he investigates, and then reasons, and by placing the fact in its
simplest, places it also in its most ridiculous forms. He calls things by
their right names; and in this age of high sounding words and happy
epithets, this little process has a most curious effect.”
—Lond. Lit. Gaz.
VIII.
THE FRENCH IN ALGIERS.
I. The Soldiers of the Foreign Legion. II. The Prisoners of Abd-el-Kader.
Translated from the German and French by Lady Duff Gordon. Price
37½ cents.
“There is something refreshing in reading of the men of instinct, such
as the Bedouins.”
—New York Tribune.
“This work is in two parts—the first by a Lieutenant in the Oldenberg
service—the second by a Lieutenant in the French navy; but both parts are
of a most interesting character; and are worthy of the place which they hold
in the `Library of Choice Reading.' The work is written in an unpretending
style, and contains a great deal of curious and instructive matter,
which to us at least is entirely new.”
—American Citizen.
“The main interest of his story centres upon Abd-el-Kader; and it is
curious to see how little this Frenchman's portrait from life of the famous
Emir corresponds with the representations of him given by the European
journals. According to the latter Abd-el-Kader is a formidable chieftain,
marshalling under his banner numerous and warlike tribes, fired with the
most determined spirit of fanaticism, setting at defiance the military power
of France, and meditating even the expulsion of the Moorish Emperor from
his throne. Monsieur France, on the contrary, brings him before us a mere
free-booting chief of a few hundreds, rich in a solitary cannon so badly
mounted as to be almost useless, and with great difficulty keeping his vagabonds
together by indiscriminate plunder. The Abd-el-Kader of the newspapers
is quite a romantic hero; but the Abd-el-Kader of this book is a very
different personage.”
—New York Commercial Advertiser.
“A book made up from the actual experience of a soldier and sailor—
presenting a very vivid account of the French dominion in Africa. One half
is the contribution of a Ge man soldier of fortune, who, finding himself out
and Abd-el-Kader in the Foreign Legion. His incidents, jottings down, and
reflections smell of the camp. The anecdotes of the expeditions and skirmishes
throw a new light on our contemporary meagre newspaper bulletins
headed Algeria. We are quietly put in possession of the whole system of
strategy—and may confidently predict something more enduring in the
French struggle with the native tribes than in our own with the Seminoles.
The second portion of the book gives the experience of M. De France, an officer
of the navy, who was one day noosed on the sea-board, and carried to Abdel-Kader.
He gives an interesting account of the great chief and his camp.
Lady Duff Gordon, the accomplished translator and editor of this volume, is,
we understand, the daughter of Sarah Austen, so well known to all English
readers of German Literature.”
—New York Morning News.
“This No. (the 8th) of the `Library of Choice Reading,' is an actual
record of the observations of two highly intelligent young men upon some
very interesting scenes in which they were themselves sharers. The work
contains much valuable information, and is written throughout in a style
that cannot fail to attract and interest all classes of readers.”
—Albany Religious
Spectator.
X.
THE GESTA ROMANORUM.
Evenings with the Old Story Tellers: Select Moral Tales from the Gesta
Romanorum Price 37½ cents.
Contents:—The Ungrateful Man; Jovinian and the Proud Emperor;
The King and the Glutton; Guido, the perfect servant; The Knight and the
King of Hungary; The Three Black Crows; The Three Caskets; The
Angel and the Hermit; Fulgentius and the Wicked Steward; The Wicked
Priest; The Emperor's Daughter; The Emperor Leo and the Three Images;
The Lay of the Little Bird; The Burdens of this Life; The Suggestions of
the Evil One; Cotonolapes, the Magician; The Garden of Aloaddin; Sir
Guido, the Crusader; The Knight and the Necromancer; The Clerk and
the Image; The Demon Knight of the Vandal Camp; The Seductions of
the Evil One; The Three Maxims; The Trials of Eustace; Queen Semiramis;
Celestinus and the Miller's Horse; The Emperor Conrad and the
Count's Son; The Knight and the Three Questions; Jonathan and the
Three Talismen.
“Evenings with the Old Story Tellers will, we anticipate, be a very popular
volume. There is about these Tale a quiet humor, a quaintness and
terseness of style, which, apart from the sage lessons they convey, will
strongly recommend them.”
—English Churchman.
“We have derived a great deal of curious information from the perusal
of this little work—upon which great care and labor have evidently been
bestowed, and we promise that the reader will find himself amply rewarded.”
—Western Luminary.
Of a most original, highly entertaining, interesting and witty character.
—Saturday Emporium.
The conception and execution of this book are both original. The principal object is
that of a suggestive parallel between the present and the primitive condition of the Island
of Manhattan.
—Broadway Journal.
The book evinces great powers of minute observation, and a fancy to shape the materials
of narration into strange forms.
—Boston Courier.
| 6.—WANDERINGS OF A PILGRIM. By Rev. G. B. Cheever | 0 37 |
This is a work which one may strongly commend, without any fear of disappointing those
whom he may induce to read it. It is eminently a book of thoughts—“thoughts as grand
as the mountains, and as sweet as the wild flowers.” It is not simply a description of the
noble Alpine scenery which the author beheld, nor a mere record of the incidents which
enliven the traveller's wanderings; it is all this, and much more. The author writes as
one whose soul is in harmony with nature, and who has been well trained in the art of
interpreting her beautiful language. He has given us, therefore, a highly poetical book;
and we hazard the opinion that no person either of piety, taste, or good sense, will be satisfied
with giving it a single perusal. It forms the sixth number of the Library of American
Books.
—Christian Reflector.
| 7.—WESTERN CLEARINGS. By Mrs. C. M. Kirkland | 0 50 |
The authoress of this very clever work, is already well known in literature under the
nom de guerre of Mary Clavers, and the work itself deserves the earnest attention of all
who are curious in manners, customs, and sectional peculiarities. In about fourteen chapters
she has laid before the world many curious facts, and incidents, illustrative of places
and people in the western regions; and this she has done in a manner at once pleasing and
instructive. We consider her indeed, as a benefactress to her generation, and an ornament
to the Republic of Letters; and the publishers in selecting this as one of their specimens of
“American Books,” deserve the thanks of the reading public.
—Anglo American.
| 8.—THE RAVEN AND OTHER POEMS. By E. A. Poe | 0 31 |
There is a great diversity of opinion respecting Mr. Poe's poetry—more so than respecting
his talent as a prose writer, or temper as a critic. But the reader of the Raven will never
deny him originality and great power, both of thought and versification. It is an extraordinary
performance, and of itself is enough to establish the author's reputation as a poet.
The other poems are various in subject and merit; but usually evince great skill in versification,
and uncommon originality. The collection of these poems is a public favor, and
we doubt not it will be popular.
—Evangelist.
| 9.—VIEWS AND REVIEWS IN AMERICAN HISTORY, LITERATURE AND FICTION. By W. G. Simms |
0 50 |
Art. 1. Americanism in Literature.
2. The Epochs and Events of American History, &c.
1. Introductory. True uses of History. Objects of Art. Its ductility and universality,
&c. 2. Benedict Arnold as a subject for Fictitious Story. 3. The four
periods of American History. 4. The Early Spanish Voyages. Hernando de
Soto a subject for Romance. 5. The Settlements of Coligny. 6. Pocahontas
a subject for the historical painter.3. Literature and Art among the Aborigines.
4. Daniel Boon, the first hunter of Kentucky.
5. Cortes and the Conquest of Mexico.
6. The Writings of James Fenimore Cooper.
Contents:
| 10.—THE ALPS AND THE RHINE. By J. T. Headley | 0 50 |
Contents.—Pass of the Simplon, Gorge of Gondo; Passes of the Forclaz and Col de
Balme; Ascent of the Montanverte, Vale of Chamouni; Pass of the Téte Noire; Baths
of Leuk; The Castle of Chillon. Geneva. Junction of the Rhone and Arve; Freybourg
Organ and Bridges. Swiss Peculiarities; Interlachen, Pass of the Wengern Alp,
Byron's Manfred; The Grand Scheideck: an Avalanche; Valley of Meyringen. Pass
of Brunig; Suwarrow's Passage of the Pragel; Macdonald's pass of the Splugen; The
Righi Culm; Goldau—Fall of the Rossberg; Avalanches and Glaciers, their Formation
and Movement; Pasturages, Chalets, and Alpine Passes; A Farewell to Switzerland—
Basle; Strasbourg—The Rhine—Frankfort; A Day in Wiesbaden; Schwalbach and
Schlagenbad; Mayence—The Rhine; The Castellated Rhine; The Rhine from Coblentz
to Cologne; Rhine Wines, Cologne Cathedral, Louvain, Brussels; Battle-field of Waterloo.
| The wilderness and the war path | |