University of Virginia Library

“`The Letters from Palmyra' is one of the most brilliant additions to American
literature. To have fallen on a subject of such admirable capabilities, and unappropriated
by previous seekers after attractive themes for works of fiction, was a
piece of rare good fortune, in an age of such literary abundance as the present; to
have treated it in a manner fully equal to its demands on the imagination, required
high powers, persevering labor, and the keenest perception. All this has been done
in this beautiful work.”

“Minds that go `far back in the ages' to refresh the imagination and seek instruction,
nothing repelled by the associations of antiquity, will be drawn towards this delightful
book by its name merely, and once conversant with its pages, will never
cease to feast upon them, until they have possessed themselves of the whole.”

“It has already become a classic, and needs no commendation.”

“This is a new edition of “Probus,” the well-known sequel to “Zenobia.” The
author states that the book has been republished abraod in several places, under the
name of “Aurelian,” and that, so far from complaining of the liberty taken, he
could not but regard it as a piece of good fortune, as he himself had long thought
“Aurelian” to be a more appropriate title than the one originally chosen. Francis
& Co. have now issued it in two neat but cheap volumes. It is hardly necessary to
speak of the merits of a work which not only has crowds of enthusiastic admirers,
but which has been deliberately placed, by consent of both learned and unlearned, on
the same shelf with the most original prose productions of America—the writings of
Brown and Irving. If any who read this paragraph have not yet read Zenobia and
its sequel, we say to them do so at once. Put by or throw away the productions of
to day for a short time, and read the most artistic, consistent and elevating pictures
of “old Rome” and her enemies, which has ever been attempted.”

“This work presents the struggle of Paganism with Christianity, in the midst
of one of the great eras of persecution, and, in our esteem, is, with “Zenobia,” not
only one of the most remarkable, but also one of the most valuable productions in
the field of historic fiction, whether of this or any other age.”

“These volumes show how thoroughly the writer's mind was imbued with the
beauty and spirit of those classical authors, whose treasures of learning and gems
of thought he seems to have made all his own.”

“The style of these works cannot be too highly commended. It is easy, graceful,
and pure—varying with the subject, and happily expressive of all its changes. In
narrative, it is simple and unadorned. In description of external scenery it becomes
ornate, and sometimes highly colored. It is a great excellence in fictitious composition,
to make the reader see the things described. This is precisely the leading
excellence of the descriptive parts of our author's works. They seem to be realities
reduced to writing. The books leave an impression of completeness, just proportion,
and admirable distribution of parts, which are found in perfection only in
the works of great masters.”

“These works evince an extent and minuteness of classical learning which but
few possess, and fewer still have the power so beautifully and skilfully to embody.
The student of history, and especially the student of classic language and history,
will derive as much solid instruction as the reader of taste finds delight in the
graceful sketches, the pure style, and the exalted sentiments which characterize
them.”

“The author of this work—for it is well entitled to the name of an original
production, though mainly consisting of translations—Rev. Dr. Hedge, of Providence,
is qualified, as few men are in this country, or wherever the English language
is written, for the successful accomplishment of the great literary enterprise
to which he has devoted his leisure for several years.”

“We venture to say that there cannot be crowded into the same compass a
more faithful representation of the German mind, or a richer exhibition of the
profound thought, subtle speculation, massive learning and genial temper, that
characterize the most eminent literary men of that nation.”

“What excellent matter we here have. The choicest gems of exuberant fancy
the most polished productions of scholarship, the richest flow of the heart, the
deepest lessons of wisdom, all translated so well by Mr. Hedge and his friends,
that they seem to have been first written by masters of the English tongue.”

“We have read the book with rare pleasure, and have derived not less information
than enjoyment.”

“I bow my head in reverence before the genius of the greatest English Poetess.
Her last poem. `Casa Guidi Windows,' has passages that Miriam might have sung
to her timbrel over the sunken chariots of Egypt. The Portuguese Sonnets are
among the most wonderful poems in any language. Their exquisite spiritual delicacy,
their naturalness, their sincerity, and directness, place them in the highest
rank.”

This volume does credit to the critical taste and imaginative faculties of the
author, who passes in review the works of between twenty and thirty of our more
modern poets, quotes them, points out their beauties, and estimates their qualities in
an enthusiastic spirit, congenial to his subjects, and yet not so unchecked as to lead
him into indiscriminating admiration. He displays taste and judgment, in fact, as
well as fancy and feeling; and though verging toward praise, is not blind to the
claims of criticism; and is it not better, as well as more just, to be somewhat gentle
in your visitings, and rather lavish than otherwise of encomium and encouragement,
than to suppose that the critic's true office consists in detecting microscopic
blemishes, magnifying them, and parading your superior talent in ill-natured carping
and dogmatic abuse? Be assured that censure is not only the easiest, but the
worst species of inquisition: any fool can find faults, but it requires a competent
person to point out merits, and institute faithful comparisons. In performing his
pleasing task, Mr. Tuckerman has shown that he possessed this power; and he has
made a volume of a very agreeable nature, studded with poetical quotations, in support
of his opinions.

Almost any man's true, unaffected, living thoughts on the poets, whose verse
makes part of our mental substance, could hardly fail to be acceptable. We all
love to talk about our friends, and to hear others talk about them, in the right
spirit. But Mr. Tuckerman's talk is as if we heard from a fine genial soul, who had
seen our friend since we had seen him; and knew him and loved him quite as well
as ourselves; minute and discriminating accounts of his excellence—made extra-piquant
by personal anecdotes, and reminiscences of amusing and pathetic passages
in his history.

Mr. Tuckerman is one of our especial favorites. There is a grace, delicacy, and
earnestness about his writings, which we admire and love; while his candor, his
warm appreciation of the merits of others, and his critical nicety of discrimination
in literary matters, constitute him, in our opinion, one of the best guides to those
who, not being able to give much time to study, are yet desirous of cultivating a
taste for elegant letters.

This volume does great credit to Mr. Tuckerman as a writer and critic. No work
has appeared from an American source, within our memory, so thoroughly imbued
with the belles-lettres spirit, as this. It is the result of much patient thinking on
the most attractive of all subjects, and is admirably calculated as a guide to a large
class of the reading public, who have the means and the time to gratify literary
tastes, but are ignorant of the relative rank and importance of the different English
poets, and of the best method of reading them to advantage.... This volume is
well calculated to convey knowledge as well as opinions. We cordially recommend
it to the lovers of poetry.