 | The thief in the night |  |
ARTHUR HELPS'S WRITINGS.
1. REALMAH. A Story. Price $2.00.
2. CASIMIR MAREMMA. A Novel. Price $2.00.
3. COMPANIONS OF MY SOLITUDE. Price $1.50.
4. ESSAYS WRITTEN IN THE INTERVALS OF BUSINESS.
Price $1.50.5. BREVIA Short Essays and Aphorisms. Price $1.50.
From the London Review.
“The tale (Realmah) is a comparatively brief one, intersected by the
conversations of a variety of able personages, with most of whose names
and characters we are already familiar through `Friends in Council.'
Looking at it in connection with the social and political lessons that are
wrapt up in it, we may fairly attribute to it a higher value than could possibly
attach to a common piece of fiction.”
From a Notice by Miss E. M. Converse.
“There are many reasons why we like this irregular book (Realmah), in
which we should find the dialogue tedious without the story; the story dull
without the dialogue; and the whole unmeaning, unless we discerned the
purpose of the author underlying the lines, and interweaving, now here,
now there, a criticism, a suggestion, an aphorism, a quaint illustration, an
exhortation, a metaphysical deduction, or a moral inference.
“We like a book in which we are not bound to read consecutively, whose
leaves we can turn at pleasure and find on every page something to amuse,
interest, and instruct. It is like a charming walk in the woods in early
summer, where we are attracted now to a lowly flower half hidden under
soft moss; now to a shrub brilliant with showy blossoms; now to the grandeur
of a spreading tree; now to a bit of fleecy cloud; and now to the blue
of the overarching sky.
“We gladly place `Realmah' on the `book-lined wall,' by the side of
other chosen friends, — the sharp, terse sayings of the `Doctor'; the suggestive
utterances of the `Noctes'; the sparkling and brilliant thoughts of
`Montaigne'; and the gentle teachings of the charming `Elia.'”
From a Notice by Miss H. W. Preston.
“It must be because the reading world is unregenerate that Arthur Helps
is not a general favorite. Somebody once said (was it Ruskin, at whose
imperious order so many of us read `Friends in Council,' a dozen years
ago?) that appreciation of Helps is a sure test of culture. Not so much
that, one may suggest, as of a certain native fineness and excellence of
mind. The impression prevails among some of those who do not read him,
that Helps is a hard writer. Nothing could be more erroneous. His manner
is simplicity itself; his speech always winning, and of a silvery distinctness.
There are hosts of ravenous readers, lively and capable, who,
if their vague prejudice were removed, would exceedingly enjoy the gentle
wit, the unassuming wisdom, and the refreshing originality of the author
in question. There are men and women, mostly young, with souls that
sometimes weary of the serials, who need nothing so much as a persuasive
guide to the study of worthier and more enduring literature. For most of
those who read novels with avidity are capable of reading something else
with avidity, if they only knew it. And such a guide, and pleasantest of all
such guides, is Arthur Helps. * * Yet `Casimir Maremma' is a charming
book, and, better still, invigorating. Try it. You are going into the country
for the summer months that remain. Have `Casimir' with you, and have
`Realmah,' too. The former is the pleasanter book, the latter the more powerful.
But if you like one you will like the other. At the least you will rise
from their perusal with a grateful sense of having been received for a time
into a select and happy circle, where intellectual breeding is perfect, and the
struggle for brilliancy unknown.
Sold everywhere. Mailed, post-paid, on receipt of advertised
price, by the Publishers,
ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston.
| The thief in the night | |