University of Virginia Library

“These anecdotes of Napoleon are the best yet given to the world, because the most
intimate and familiar.”

“We consider the performance now before us as more authentic and amusing than any
other of its kind.”

“Every thing relating to Napoleon is eagerly sought for and read in this country as well
as in Europe, and this work, with its extraordinary attractions, will not fail to command
a wide circulation. Madame Junot possessed qualifications for writing a semi-domestic
history of the great Corsican which no other person, male or female, could command.”

“The author is a literary gentleman of Baltimore, no Abolitionist, and we believe the
work to be a truthful account of the life of a man who saw much more than falls to the lot
of most men.”

“A remarkable volume is this: because of its undoubted truth: it having been derived
by Mayer from personal conversations with Canot, and from journals which the slaver furnished
of his own life.”

“Capt. Canot, the here of the narrative, is, to our own knowledge, a veritable person
age, and resides in Baltimore. There is no doubt that the main incidents connected with
his extraordinary career are in every respect true.”

“Under one aspect, as the biography of a remarkable man who passed through a singularly
strange and eventful experience, it is as interesting as any sea story that we have
ever read.”

“Capt. Canot has certainly passed through a life of difficulty, danger, and wild, daring
adventure, which has much the air of romance, and still he, or rather his editor, tells the
tale with so much straightforwardness, that we cannot doubt its truthfulness.”

“The work could not have been better done if the principal actor had combined
the descriptive talent of De Foe with the astuteness of Fouche and the dexterity of Gi.
Blas, which traits are ascribed to the worthy whose acquaintance we shall soon make by
his admiring editor.”

“The general style of the work is attractive, and the narrative spirited and bold—well
suited to the daring and hazardous course of life led by the adventurer. This book is illustrated
by several excellent engravings.”

“The biography of an African slaver as taken from his own lips, and giving his adventures
in this traffic for twenty years. With great natural keenness of perception and complete
communicativeness, he has literally unmasked his real life, and tells both what he
was and what he saw, the latter being the Photograph of the Negro in Africa, which has
been so long wanted. A nephew of Mr. Mayer has illustrated the volume with eight admirable
drawings. We should think no book of the present day would be received with
so keen an interest.”

“Capt. Canot has passed most of his life since 1819 on the ocean, and his catalogue of
adventures at sea and on land, rival in grotesqueness and apparent improbability the marvels
of Robinson Crusoe.”

“If stirring incidents, hair-breadth escapes, and variety of adventure, can make a book
interesting, this must possess abundant attractions.”

“This is a true record of the life of one who had spent the greater part of his days in
dealing in human flesh. We commend this book to all lovers of adventure.”

“We would advise every one who is a lover of `books that are books'—every one who
admires Le Sage and De Foe, and has lingered long over the charming pages of Gil Blas
and Robinson Crusoe—every one, pro-slavery or anti-slavery, to purchase this book.”

“In so small a compass, we rarely meet with more Catholic sympathies, and with a
clearer or more practical view of the privileges enjoyed by, and the duties enjoined, upon
us all, at any stage of our mortal pilgrimage.”

“Some passages remind us forcibly of Addison and Goldsmith.”

“This little volume is one of those books which are read by all classes at all stages of
life, with an interest which loses nothing by change or circumstances.”

“He writes kindly; strongly and readably; nor is their any thing in this volume of a
narrow, bigoted, or sectarian character.”

“His counsels are faithful and wholesome, his reflection touching, and the whole is
clothed in a style graceful and free.”

“This is a volume of beautiful and cogent essays, virtuous in motive, simple in expression
pertinent and admirable in logic, and glorious in conclusion and climax.”

“It is written with exquisite taste, is full of beautiful thought most felicitously expressed,
and is pervaded by a genial and benevolent spirit.”

“Almost every page has a tincture of elegant scholarship, and bears witness to an extensive
reading of good authors.”

“This is a volume of elegant and impressive essays on the domestic relations and religious
duties of the household. Mr. Osgood writes on these interesting themes in the most
charming and animated style, winning the reader's judgment rather than coercing it to the
author's conclusions. The predominant sentiments in the book are purity, sincerity, and
love. A more delightful volume has rarely been published, and we trust it will have a
wide circulation, for its influence must be salutary upon both old and young.”

“The `Hearth-Stone' is the symbol of all those delightful truths which Mr. Osgood here
connects with it. In a free and graceful style, varying from deep solemnity to the most
genial and lively tone, as Osgood his range of subjects, he gives attention to wise thoughts
on holy things, and homely truths. His volume will find mary warm hearts to which it
will address itself.”

“A very genial and entertaining, though practical and scientific book. No one who
loves the existence in our rivers, brooks, or lakes, of trout and salmon, should be without
it.”

“In this little volume, the whole process of fish-culture is described so plainly and with
so much minuteness that any person will have no difficulty in informing himself sufficiently
well to engage in the business; provided he has the necessary facilities and leisure, with a
good running stream or pond, and the proper attention, a great brood of fishes may be
natched from the eggs, and raised up for the market or the table; and such delicacies are
trout and salmon, that it is evident that the business of producing them for sale may be
made profitable.”

“This discovery is treated as a matter of great public benefit in France and England,
where it is practised under the direction and patronage of Government, and is beginning to
work its results in stocking rivers and lakes, with the finest species of fish, where few or
none have before existed for many years.”

“Every farmer who has a stream flowing through his land, or miller who wishes to turn
his ponds to some account, should make himself acquainted with the details of the book.”

“It is a story of New England life, skilfully told, full of tender interest, healthy in its
sentiments and remarkably graphic in its sketches of character. `Aunt Betsy' is drawn
to the life.”

“Farmingdale is the best novel of the season.”

“It will compare favorably with the `Lamplighter,' by Miss Cuminings, and the
Wide, Wide World,' by Miss Warner, and in interest it is quite equal to either.”

“ `Farmingdale,' the work to which we allude, in every page and paragraph, is redolent
of its native sky. It is a tale of New England domestic life, in its incidents and manners
so true to nature and so free from exaggeration, and in its impulses and motives throughout
so throbbing with the real American heart, that we shall not be surprised to hear of as
many New England villages claiming to be the scene of its story, as were the cities of
Greece that claimed to be the birth-place of Homer.”

“The story abounds in scenes of absorbing interest. The narration is every where deightfully
clear and straightforward, flowing forth towards its conclusion, like a gentle and
impid stream, between graceful hillsides and verdant meadows.”

“This is a story of country life, written by a hand whose guiding power was a living
soul. The pictures of life are speaking and effective. The story is interestingly told and its
high moral aim well sustained.”

“ `Farmingdale,' while it has many points in common with some recent works of fiction,
is yet highly original. The author has had the boldness to attempt a novel, the main
interest of which does not hinge either upon love or matrimony, nor upon complicated and
entangled machinery, but upon a simple and apparently artless narrative of a friendless
girl.”

“The author studiously avoids all forced and unnatural incidents, and the equally
fashionable affectation of extravagant language. Her style and diction are remarkable for
their purity and ease. In the conception and delineation of character she has shown herself
possessed of the true creative power.”

“A simple yet beautiful story, told in a simple and beautiful manner. The object is to
show the devoted affection of a sister to a young brother, and the sacrifices which she made
for him from childhood. There is a touching simplicity in the character of this intersting
female that will please all readers, and benefit many of her sex.”

“The tale is prettily written, and breathes throughout an excellent moral tone.”

“We have read this book; it is lively, spirited, and in some parts pathetic. Its sketches
of life seem to us at once graceful and vivid.”

“The book is well written, in a simple, unpretending style, and the dialogue is natural
and easy. It is destined to great popularity among all classes of readers. Parents who
object placing `love tales' in the hands of their children, may purchase this volume without
fear. The oldest and the youngest will become intrested in its fascinating pages, and
close it with the impression that it is a good book, and deserving of the greatest popularity.'

We know not where we will find purer morals, or more valuable “life-philosophy,
than in the pages of Miss Sewell.

The style and character of Miss Sewell's writings are too well known to the reading
public to need commendation. The present volume will only add to her reputation as
an authoress.

This novel is admirably calculated to inculcate refined moral and religious sentiments.

The interest of the story is well sustained throughout, and it is altogether one of the
pleasantest books of the season.

Those who have read the former works of this writer, will welcome the appearance
of this; it is equal to the best of her preceding novels.

Noble, beautiful, selfish, hard, and ugly characters appear in it, and each is so drawn
as to be felt and estimated as it deserves.

A re-publication of a good English novel. It teaches self-control, charity, and a
true estimation of life, by the interesting history of a young girl.

Katharine Ashton will enhance the reputation already attained, the story and the
moral being equally commendable.

Like all its predecessors, Katharine Ashton bears the impress of genius, consecrated
to the noblest purposes, and should find a welcome in every family circle.

No one can be injured by books like this; a great many must be benefited. Few
authors have sent so many faultless writings to the press as she has done.

The self-denial of the Christian life, in its application to common scenes and circumstances,
is happily illustrated in the example of Katharine Ashton, in which there
is much to admire and imitate.

Her present work is an interesting tale of English country life, is written with her
usual ability, and is quite free from any offensive parade of her own theological tenets.

The field in which Miss Sewell labors, seems to be exhaustless, and to yield always
a beautiful and a valuable harvest.

“Mrs. Clarke has given us one of the most delightful novels we have read for many
a day, and one which is destined, we doubt not, to be much longer lived than the majority
of books of its class. Its chief beauties are a certain freshness in the style in which the incidents
are presented to us—a healthful tone pervading it—a completeness in most of the
characters—and a truthful power in the descriptions.”

“We have found the volume deeply interesting—its characters are well drawn, while
its tone and sentiments are well calculated to exert a puritying and ennobling influence
upon all who read it.”

“The scene of the book is village life amongst the upper class, with village episodes,
which seem to have been sketched from the life—there is a primitive simplicity and greatness
of heart about some of the characters which keep up the sympathy and interest to
the end.”

“The reader cannot fall of being both charmed and instructed by the book, and of
hoping that a pen so able will not lie idle.”

“We fearlessly recommend it as a work of more than ordinary merit.”

“The great moral lesson indicated by the title-page of this book runs, as a golden thread,
through every part of it, while the reader is constantly kept in contact with the workings
of an inventive and brilliant mind.”

“We have read this fascinating story with a good deal of interest. Human nature is
well and faithfully portrayed, and we see the counterpart of our story in character and
disposition, in every village and district. The book cannot fail of popular reception.”

“A work of deep and powerful influence.”

“Mrs. Cowden Clarke, with the delicacy and artistic taste of refined womanhood, has in
this work shown great versatility of talent.”

“The story is too deeply interesting to allow the reader to lay it down till he has read
it to the end.”

“The work is skilful in plan, graphic in style, diversified in incident and true to nature.

“The tale is charmingly imagined. The incidents never exceed probability but seem
perfectly natural. In the style there is much quaintness, in the sentiment much tenderness.”

“It is a spirited, charming story, full of adventure friendship and love, with characters
nicely drawn and carefully discriminated. The clear style and spirit with which the story
is presented and the characters developed, will attract a large constituency to the perusal.”

“Mrs. Cowden Clarke's story has one of the highest qualities of fiction—it is no flickering
shadow, but seems of real growth. It is full of lively truth, and shows nice perception of
the early elements of character with which we become acquainted in its wholeness, and in
the ripeness of years. The incident is well woven: the color is blood-warm; and there is
the presence of a sweet grace and gentle power”

“Of one thing we are convinced, and that is, that few that take up “Life in
Abyssinia,” will lay it down without reading it through, and without exclaiming
when they come to the end “what an amusing book this is, and what an agreeable
savage is Mansfield Parkyns.”

“Since the appearance of “Typee and Omoo,” we have seen no more agreeable
volumes of travel than those of Mr. Parkyns.”

“Mr. Mansfield Parkyns is no tourist, but a genuine traveller. In acquaintance
with Eastern languages and manners he is a Buckhardt; his liking for Natural History
and assiduity as a collector, reminds us of Waterton; while in his passion for the
cnase, and occasional introduction of elephants, giraffes, and lions, he bears an obvious
likeness to Campbell or Gordon Cumming.”

“Remarkably entertaining and interesting volumes, brimfull of adventures and
life. We have read them with perfect gusto, and cordially join “Blackwood's recommendation.”

“A story of three years in Abyssinian life, by one so keen in observation and fond
of adventure as Mr. Parkyns could not but promise a great attraction; and no one
who opens this book will lay it down in disappointment. He sketches the incidents
of his travels with great distinctness and vividness and portrays character, wherever
he meets it, capitally.”

“The author appears to have become thoroughly naturalized among the singular
people with whom it was his lot to dwell, and tells the story of his adventures with a
liveliness and freedom from reserve that are extremely captivating.”

“Dullness certainly has no share in Mr. Parkyns' composition—it is a capital
book.”

“This is no ordinary production.”

“Attractive as a romance while they have the merit of usefulness.”

“The most interesting book of travel issued from the press in many years.”

“In every respect the volumes are truly attractive.”

“We have been highly amused, and, we must say, instructed, in the perusal of Mr.
Parkyn's adventures.”

“We do not hesitate to commend the book to our readers—it will amply repay
their attention.”

“The work fulfils all the author promises.”

“To all who are in any kind of trouble from hot weather, bad temper, unpaid bills,
and the like annoyances, we would recommend this book.”

“The style is pleasant and many of the incidents are piquant and startling.”

“These are two delightful volumes of travel, fresh, racy and glowing with life.”

“The book is well written, and its fame will be more than ephemeral.”

“The story is interesting and finely developed.”

“A lively romance of western life—the style of the writer is smart, inteliigent, and
winning, and her story is told with spirit and skill.”

“An excellent work, and its sale must be extensive.”

“The whole is relieved by a generous introduction of incident as well as by an am
plitude of love and mystery.”

“A delightful, well written book, portraying western life to the letter. The book
abounds in an easy humor, with touching sentences of tenderness and pathos scattered
through it, and from first to last keeps up a humane interest that very many authors
strive in vain to achieve. `Tempest' and `Sunshine,' two sisters, are an exemplification
of the good that to some comes by nature, and to others is found only through
trials, temptation, and tribulation. Mr. Middleton, the father of `Tempest' and `Sunshine,'
is the very soul and spirit of `Old Kaintuck,' abridged into one man. The book
is worth reading. There is a healthy tone of morality pervading it that will make it a
suitable work to be placed in the hands of our daughters and sisters.”