Our pleasures in literature do not, I think, decline with age. Last 1st of January was my eighty-second birthday, and I think that I had as much enjoyment from books as ever I had in my life.
Our pleasures in literature do not, I think, decline with age. Last 1st of January was my eighty-second birthday, and I think that I had as much enjoyment from books as ever I had in my life.
History gave her particular delight:—
I am surprised to find how much more history interests me now than when I was young, and how much more I am now interested in the same events recorded, and their causes and consequences shown, in this history of the French Revolution, and in all the history of Europe during the last quarter of a century, than I was when the news came fresh and fresh in the newspapers. I do not think I had sense enough to take in the relations and proportions of the events. It was like moving a magnifying glass over the parts of a beetle, and not taking in the whole.
I am surprised to find how much more history interests me now than when I was young, and how much more I am now interested in the same events recorded, and their causes and consequences shown, in this history of the French Revolution, and in all the history of Europe during the last quarter of a century, than I was when the news came fresh and fresh in the newspapers. I do not think I had sense enough to take in the relations and proportions of the events. It was like moving a magnifying glass over the parts of a beetle, and not taking in the whole.
Macaulay's history charmed her, and in all her first enthusiasm she wrote a long letter about it to her old friend, Sir Henry Holland. He showed it to Macaulay, who was so struck with its discrimination and ability that he begged to be allowed to keep it. Among all the incidents connected with the publication ofhis book, nothing, it is said, pleased Macaulay more than the gratification he had contrived to give Miss Edgeworth as a small return for the enjoyment which, during more than forty years, he had derived from her writings:—
Trim, April 2nd, 1849.My dear Dr. Holland:I have just finished Macaulay's two volumes of theHistory of Englandwith the same feeling that you expressed—regret at coming to the end, and longing for another volume—the most uncommon feeling, I suppose, that readers of two thick octavo volumes of the history of England and of times so well known, or whose story has been so often written, ever experienced. In truth, in the whole course of reading or hearing it read I was sorry to stop and glad to go on. It bears peculiarly well that severe test of being read aloud; it never wearies the ear by the long resounding line, but keeps the attention alive by the energy shown. It is the perfection of style so varied, and yet the same in fitness, in propriety, in perspicuity, in grace, in dignity and eloquence, and, whenever naturally called forth, in that just indignation which makes the historian as well as the poet. If Voltaire says true that "the style is the man," what a man must Macaulay be! But the man is in fact as much more than the style, as the matter is more than the manner. It is astonishing with what ease Macaulay wields, manages, arranges his vast materials collected far and near, and knows their value and proportions so as to give the utmost strength and force and light and life to the whole, and sustains the whole. Such new lights are thrown upon historic facts and historic characters that the old appear new, and that which had been dull becomesbright and entertaining and interesting. Exceedingly interesting he has made history by the happy use and aid of biography and anecdote. A word brings the individual before us, and shows not only his character, but the character of the times, and at once illustrates or condemns to everlasting fame. Macaulay has proved by example how false Madame de Staël's principle was that biography and biographical anecdotes were altogether inadmissible in history—below the dignity or breaking the proportion or unity, I suppose she thought. But whatever might be her reasons, she gave this opinion to Dumont, who told it to me. Much good it did her! How much more interesting historicalprécisin painting or in writing, which is painting in word, are made by the introduction of portraits of celebrated individuals! Either as actors or even as spectators, the bold figures live, and merely by their life further the action and impress the sense of truth and reality. I have pleasure, my dear Dr. Holland, in pointing out to you, warm as it first comes, the admiration which this work has raised to this height in my mind. I know this will give you sympathetic pleasure.And now, my good friend, in return I require from you prompt and entire belief in an assertion which I am about to make, which may appear to you at first incredible. But try-try; at all events the effort will give you occasion to determine a question which perhaps, excellent metaphysician as you have shown yourself, you never settled whether you can or cannot believe at will.That which I require you to believe is☞that all the admiration I have expressed of Macaulay's work is quite uninfluenced by the self-satisfaction, vanity, pride, surprise, delight, I had in finding my own name in a note!!!!!Be assured, believe it or not as you may or can, that neither my vanity nor my gratitude weighed with my judgmentin the slightest degree in the opinion I formed, or in that warmth with which it was poured out. In fact, I had formed my opinion, and expressed it with no less warmth to my friends round me, reading the book to me, before I came to that note; moreover, there was a mixture of shame and twinge of pain with the pleasure, the pride I felt in having a line in his immortal history given tome, when the historian makes no mention of Sir Walter Scott throughout the work, even in places where it seems impossible that genius could resist paying the becoming tribute which genius owes and loves to pay to genius. I cannot conceive how this could be. I cannot bring myself to imagine that the words Tory or Whig, or Dissenter or Churchman, or feeling of party or natural spirit, could bias such a man as Macaulay. Perhaps he reserves himself for the forty-five, and I hope in heaven it is so, and that you will tell me I am very impetuous and prematurely impertinent. Meanwhile, be so good to make my grateful and deeply-felt thanks to the great author for the honor which he has done me. When I was in London some years ago, and when I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Macaulay, I took the liberty of expressing a wish that he would visit Ireland, and that if he did we might have the honor of seeing him at our house. I am very glad to find that the Battle of the Boyne will bring him here. He must have now so many invitations from those who have the highest inducement to offer, that I hardly dare to repeat my request. But will you, my dear friends, do whatever you can with propriety for us, and say how much Mrs. Edgeworth and myself and our whole family would be gratified by his giving us even a call on his way to some better place, and even an hour of his conversation. I am now at Trim with my sister and dear brother. Trim and its ruins, and the tower, and wherekings and generals and poets have been, would perhaps, he may think, be worth his seeing. Dean Butler and my sister feel as I do how many claims Mr. Macaulay must have upon his time in his visit to Ireland; but they desire me to say that if anything should bring him into this neighborhood, they should think themselves highly honored by receiving him. I am sure he would be interested by Mr. Butler's conversation and remarks on various parts of Macaulay's history, andIshould exceedingly like to hear it commented and discussed. Littleimust come in, you see, at every close. You will observe that, in speaking of Macaulay's work, I have spoken only of the style, the only point of which I could presume to think my opinion could be of any value. Of the great attributes, of the essential qualities of the historian, accuracy, fidelity, impartiality, I could not, even if I thought myself qualified to judge, attempt to speak in this letter.But I am sensible that I have neither the knowledge nor the strength, much less the coolness of judgment, necessary to make opinion valuable on such subjects. I could easily give my own opinion, but—of no use. The less I am inclined to speak when I do not know, the more I am anxious to hear; and most delightful and profitable would it be to me to hear the great historian himself speak on many points which I hear discussed by my learned brother, Dean Butler, and others (on Clarendon's character, etc., etc., etc.) We have not yet seen any of the public reviews of Macaulay's history. No doubt the stinging, little, ephemeral insects will come out in swarms to buzz and fly-blow in the sunshine. The warmer, the brighter, the thicker the swarm will be to prick. I hope you will read this unconscionable lengthy letter when you are in your carriage, rolling about from patient to patient, and be patient yourself then, my deardoctor. You are always so very good and kind to me that I encroach. I seldom write such long epistles. As the most impudent beggar-woman in our town says to Mrs. E., "Ma'am, your ladyship, I never beg from any one so much as your ladyship; troth, never from any but you." ...Give my most kind and affectionate remembrances to Mrs. Holland and your daughters and sons, andBelieve me most garrulously and sincerely yours,Maria Edgeworth.
Trim, April 2nd, 1849.
My dear Dr. Holland:
I have just finished Macaulay's two volumes of theHistory of Englandwith the same feeling that you expressed—regret at coming to the end, and longing for another volume—the most uncommon feeling, I suppose, that readers of two thick octavo volumes of the history of England and of times so well known, or whose story has been so often written, ever experienced. In truth, in the whole course of reading or hearing it read I was sorry to stop and glad to go on. It bears peculiarly well that severe test of being read aloud; it never wearies the ear by the long resounding line, but keeps the attention alive by the energy shown. It is the perfection of style so varied, and yet the same in fitness, in propriety, in perspicuity, in grace, in dignity and eloquence, and, whenever naturally called forth, in that just indignation which makes the historian as well as the poet. If Voltaire says true that "the style is the man," what a man must Macaulay be! But the man is in fact as much more than the style, as the matter is more than the manner. It is astonishing with what ease Macaulay wields, manages, arranges his vast materials collected far and near, and knows their value and proportions so as to give the utmost strength and force and light and life to the whole, and sustains the whole. Such new lights are thrown upon historic facts and historic characters that the old appear new, and that which had been dull becomesbright and entertaining and interesting. Exceedingly interesting he has made history by the happy use and aid of biography and anecdote. A word brings the individual before us, and shows not only his character, but the character of the times, and at once illustrates or condemns to everlasting fame. Macaulay has proved by example how false Madame de Staël's principle was that biography and biographical anecdotes were altogether inadmissible in history—below the dignity or breaking the proportion or unity, I suppose she thought. But whatever might be her reasons, she gave this opinion to Dumont, who told it to me. Much good it did her! How much more interesting historicalprécisin painting or in writing, which is painting in word, are made by the introduction of portraits of celebrated individuals! Either as actors or even as spectators, the bold figures live, and merely by their life further the action and impress the sense of truth and reality. I have pleasure, my dear Dr. Holland, in pointing out to you, warm as it first comes, the admiration which this work has raised to this height in my mind. I know this will give you sympathetic pleasure.
And now, my good friend, in return I require from you prompt and entire belief in an assertion which I am about to make, which may appear to you at first incredible. But try-try; at all events the effort will give you occasion to determine a question which perhaps, excellent metaphysician as you have shown yourself, you never settled whether you can or cannot believe at will.
That which I require you to believe is☞that all the admiration I have expressed of Macaulay's work is quite uninfluenced by the self-satisfaction, vanity, pride, surprise, delight, I had in finding my own name in a note!!!!!
Be assured, believe it or not as you may or can, that neither my vanity nor my gratitude weighed with my judgmentin the slightest degree in the opinion I formed, or in that warmth with which it was poured out. In fact, I had formed my opinion, and expressed it with no less warmth to my friends round me, reading the book to me, before I came to that note; moreover, there was a mixture of shame and twinge of pain with the pleasure, the pride I felt in having a line in his immortal history given tome, when the historian makes no mention of Sir Walter Scott throughout the work, even in places where it seems impossible that genius could resist paying the becoming tribute which genius owes and loves to pay to genius. I cannot conceive how this could be. I cannot bring myself to imagine that the words Tory or Whig, or Dissenter or Churchman, or feeling of party or natural spirit, could bias such a man as Macaulay. Perhaps he reserves himself for the forty-five, and I hope in heaven it is so, and that you will tell me I am very impetuous and prematurely impertinent. Meanwhile, be so good to make my grateful and deeply-felt thanks to the great author for the honor which he has done me. When I was in London some years ago, and when I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Macaulay, I took the liberty of expressing a wish that he would visit Ireland, and that if he did we might have the honor of seeing him at our house. I am very glad to find that the Battle of the Boyne will bring him here. He must have now so many invitations from those who have the highest inducement to offer, that I hardly dare to repeat my request. But will you, my dear friends, do whatever you can with propriety for us, and say how much Mrs. Edgeworth and myself and our whole family would be gratified by his giving us even a call on his way to some better place, and even an hour of his conversation. I am now at Trim with my sister and dear brother. Trim and its ruins, and the tower, and wherekings and generals and poets have been, would perhaps, he may think, be worth his seeing. Dean Butler and my sister feel as I do how many claims Mr. Macaulay must have upon his time in his visit to Ireland; but they desire me to say that if anything should bring him into this neighborhood, they should think themselves highly honored by receiving him. I am sure he would be interested by Mr. Butler's conversation and remarks on various parts of Macaulay's history, andIshould exceedingly like to hear it commented and discussed. Littleimust come in, you see, at every close. You will observe that, in speaking of Macaulay's work, I have spoken only of the style, the only point of which I could presume to think my opinion could be of any value. Of the great attributes, of the essential qualities of the historian, accuracy, fidelity, impartiality, I could not, even if I thought myself qualified to judge, attempt to speak in this letter.
But I am sensible that I have neither the knowledge nor the strength, much less the coolness of judgment, necessary to make opinion valuable on such subjects. I could easily give my own opinion, but—of no use. The less I am inclined to speak when I do not know, the more I am anxious to hear; and most delightful and profitable would it be to me to hear the great historian himself speak on many points which I hear discussed by my learned brother, Dean Butler, and others (on Clarendon's character, etc., etc., etc.) We have not yet seen any of the public reviews of Macaulay's history. No doubt the stinging, little, ephemeral insects will come out in swarms to buzz and fly-blow in the sunshine. The warmer, the brighter, the thicker the swarm will be to prick. I hope you will read this unconscionable lengthy letter when you are in your carriage, rolling about from patient to patient, and be patient yourself then, my deardoctor. You are always so very good and kind to me that I encroach. I seldom write such long epistles. As the most impudent beggar-woman in our town says to Mrs. E., "Ma'am, your ladyship, I never beg from any one so much as your ladyship; troth, never from any but you." ...
Give my most kind and affectionate remembrances to Mrs. Holland and your daughters and sons, and
Believe me most garrulously and sincerely yours,
Maria Edgeworth.
This letter, so characteristic in its humility and generous admiration, shows no sign of old age or impaired faculties, neither is there any trace of this in one of the last she ever wrote, addressed to her sister Harriet:—
I am heartily obliged and delighted by your being such a goose and Richard such a gander, as to be frightened out of your wits at my going up the ladder to take off the top of the clock! Know, then, that I am quite worthy of that most unmerited definition of man, "A creature that looks before and after." Before Ilet onto anybody my doubts of my own capability of reaching the nail on which to hang the top, I called Shaw, and made her stand at the foot of the ladder while I went up, and found I could no more reach the nail than I could reach the moon, Exit Shaw!Prudence of M. E., Act 2: Summoned Cassidy, and informed him that I was to wind up the clock, and that he was promoted to take off the top for me; and then up I went and wound the clock, and wound it as I had done before you was born, as there is nothing easier, only to see that it is not going tomaintainat the very instant,which is plainly to be noted by the position of the maintaining pin on the little outer wheel relative to the first deep tooth. You see I am not quite a nincompoop. I send my lines:—"Ireland, with all thy faults, thy follies too,I love thee still: still with a candid eye must viewThy wit too quick, still blundering into sense;Thy reckless humor; sad improvidence;And even what sober judges follies call—I, looking at the heart, forget them all."Maria E., May, 1849.
I am heartily obliged and delighted by your being such a goose and Richard such a gander, as to be frightened out of your wits at my going up the ladder to take off the top of the clock! Know, then, that I am quite worthy of that most unmerited definition of man, "A creature that looks before and after." Before Ilet onto anybody my doubts of my own capability of reaching the nail on which to hang the top, I called Shaw, and made her stand at the foot of the ladder while I went up, and found I could no more reach the nail than I could reach the moon, Exit Shaw!
Prudence of M. E., Act 2: Summoned Cassidy, and informed him that I was to wind up the clock, and that he was promoted to take off the top for me; and then up I went and wound the clock, and wound it as I had done before you was born, as there is nothing easier, only to see that it is not going tomaintainat the very instant,which is plainly to be noted by the position of the maintaining pin on the little outer wheel relative to the first deep tooth. You see I am not quite a nincompoop. I send my lines:—
Maria E., May, 1849.
Miss Edgeworth had been staying with Mr. and Mrs. Butler in the spring. When taking leave she was unusually agitated and depressed, but said as she went away: "At Whitsuntide I shall return." On the very day before she was to redeem this promise, she drove out in apparent good health, when a sudden feeling of weakness overcame her and made her return to the house. Severe pains in the region of the heart set in, and after a few hours' illness Maria Edgeworth died—died as she had fondly wished, at home, in the arms of her stepmother. Yet another of her wishes was granted: she had spared her friends the anguish of seeing her suffer from protracted illness. May 22d, 1849, she rose from the banquet of life, where, in her own words, she had been a happy guest.
In her latter years Miss Edgeworth had beenasked to furnish prefaces of a biographical character to her novels. She refused, saying she had nothing personal to tell. "As a woman, my life, wholly domestic, cannot afford anything interesting to the public; I am like the 'needy knife-grinder'—I have no story to tell."
Was she right? or is not the story of so loving and lovable a life worth telling?
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"A biography of Mary Lamb must inevitably be also, almost more, a biography of Charles Lamb, so completely was the life of the sister encompassed by that of her brother; and it must be allowed that Mrs. Anne Gilchrist has performed a difficult biographical task with taste and ability.... The reader is at least likely to lay down the book with the feeling that if Mary Lamb is not famous she certainly deserves to be, and that a debt of gratitude is due Mrs. Gilchrist for this well-considered record of her life."—Boston Courier.
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ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston.
PEARLS OF THE FAITH; or, Islam's Rosary; being the "Ninety-nine Beautiful Names of Allah." By Edwin Arnold. 16mo. Cloth. Uniform with "The Light of Asia." Price, $1.00
"Mr. Edwin Arnold has finished his Oriental trilogy. The first part is 'The Light of Asia.' The second part is 'The Indian Song of Songs.' The trilogy is completed by 'Pearls of the Faith,' in which the poet tells the beads of a pious Moslem. The Mohammedan has a chaplet of three strings, each string containing 33 beads, each bead representing one of the 'Ninety-nine beautiful names of Allah.' These short poems have no connection; they vary in measure, but are all simple and without a touch of obscurity. All the legends and instructions inculcate the gentle virtues that make life lovely—courtesy, humility, hospitality, care for the poor and the ill, kindness to dumb animals, perfect manners in social intercourse. Many of the poems are suitable for Christian Sunday-schools.... The view of Mohammedanism given by these poems is very pleasant; the precepts for life here are sweet and noble; the promises for heaven are definite; they appeal directly to the love of what is known as pleasure in this life, and that must be renounced in this life, but in the next it may be enjoyed to the uttermost without evil consequences."—Boston Daily Advertiser.
ART AND NATURE IN ITALY. By Eugene Benson. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00
"Mr. Benson's long residence in that country has operated to imbue his mind with the spirit of the region. He treatscon amoreof its art in its historical and in its modern aspects, and he presents its scenes of nature in their most fascinating form. Mr. Benson is not only one of the most appreciative of students and observers, but he has a rare grace of manner as well. He writes little of late, but his productions are always acceptable to cultivated people."—Saturday Evening Gazette.
"This book is a record of impressions and reflections on art and nature in Italy. The great beauty and the historic associations of the country are set forth in very pleasing language by one who fully appreciates them. He particularly describes those portions of that beautiful land in which its most distinguished artists have lived, showing how its natural features, its enchanting scenery, must have had a molding influence upon their tastes and their works. His estimates of art and artists and his criticisms are, in the main, just and satisfactory."—Western Christian Advocate.
NORSE STORIES, RETOLD FROM THE EDDAS. By Hamilton W. Mabie. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00
"Is one of the most charming little books for children I have ever seen. The myths are splendidly told, and every household in America ought to have a copy of the book."—Prof. R. B. Anderson.
"The old Norse stories bear being told again and again. Mr. Mabie keeps their freshness, fascination and simplicity in his new version of them, and one reads with unabated pleasure of Odin's search for wisdom, of the wooing of Gerd, and of all the strange adventures of Thor, of the beautiful Balder, of the wicked Loke and, best of all, of the new earth that was created after long years of darkness, in which there was no sun, no moon, no stars, no Asgard, no Hel, no Jotunheim; in which gods, giants, monsters and men were all dead—the earth upon which the gods look lovingly, upon which men are industrious and obedient, and know that the All-Father helps them."—Boston Daily Advertiser.
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⁂ Our publications are for sale by all booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of advertised price.
ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston.
A LITTLE PILGRIM. Reprinted from Macmillan's Magazine. 16mo. Cloth. Red edges. Price, $.75
"An exquisitely written little sketch is found in that remarkable production, 'The Little Pilgrim,' which is just now attracting much attention both in Europe and America. It is highly imaginative in its scope, representing one of the world-worn and weary pilgrims of our earthly sphere as entering upon the delights of heaven after death. The picture of heaven is drawn with the rarest delicacy and refinement, and is in agreeable contrast in this respect to the material sketch of this future home furnished in Miss Stuart Phelps's well-remembered 'Gates Ajar.' The book will be a balm to the heart of many readers who are in accord with the faith of its author; and to others its reading will afford rare pleasure from the exceeding beauty and affecting simplicity of its almost perfect literary style."—Saturday Evening Gazette.
"The life beyond the grave, when the short life in this world is ended, is to many a source of dread—to all a mystery. 'A Little Pilgrim' has apparently solved it, and, indeed, it seems on reading this little book as if there were a great probability about it. A soft, gentle tone pervades its every sentence, and one cannot read it without feeling refreshed and strengthened."—The Alta California.
THE GREAT EPICS OF MEDIÆVAL GERMANY. An Outline of their Contents and History. By George Theodore Dippold, Professor at Boston University and Wellesley College. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50
Professor Francis J. Child, of Harvard College, says: "It is an excellent account of the chief German heroic poems of the Middle Ages, accompanied with spirited translations. It is a book which gives both a brief and popular, and also an accurate, account of this important section of literature, and will be very welcome here and at other colleges."
"No student of modern literature, and above all no student who aims to understand the literary development of Europe in its fullest range, can leave this rich and ample world of early song unexplored. To all such Professor Dippold's book will have the value of a trustworthy guide.... It has all the interest of a chapter in the growth of the human mind into comprehension of the universe and of itself, and it has the pervading charm of the vast realm of poetry through which it moves."—Christian Union.
MY HOUSEHOLD OF PETS. By Theophile Gautier. Translated from the French by Susan Coolidge. With illustrations by Frank Rogers. 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25
"This little book will interest lovers of animals, and the quaint style in which M. Gautier tells of the wisdom of his household pets will please every one. The translator, too, is happy in her work, for she has succeeded in rendering the text into English without loss of the French tone, which makes it fascinating. These household pets consisted of white and black cats, dogs, chameleons, lizards, magpies, and horses, each of which has a character and story of its own. Illustrations and a pretty binding add to the attractions of the volume."—Worcester Spy.
"The ease and elegance of Theophile Gautier's diction is wonderful, and the translator has preserved the charm of the French author with far more than the average fidelity. 'My Household of Pets' is a book which can be read with pleasure by young and old. It is a charming volume."—St. Louis Spectator.
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⁂ Our publications are for sale by all booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of advertised price.
ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston.
CHRISTIAN HISTORY IN ITS THREE GREAT PERIODS. ByJoseph Henry Allen, late lecturer on ecclesiastical history in Harvard University.
Second Period."The Middle Age." Topics.—1. The Ecclesiastical System. 2. Feudal Society. 3. The Work of Hildebrand. 4. The Crusades. 5. Chivalry. 6. The Religious Orders. 7. Heretics. 8. Scholastic Theology. 9. Religious Art. 10. Dante. 11. The Pagan Revival. Also a new edition of the
First Period."Early Christianity." Originally published under the title of "Fragments of Christian History." The two volumes uniformly bound. 16mo. Price each, $1.25
"Whatever may be said or thought of Professor Joseph Henry Allen's 'Christian History,' which will be completed by the publication of a third volume, it is the first and foremost work of the kind ever attempted in this country. Even in our theological schools, the history of the Church is usually taught on the basis of some foreign manual, of which Guericke may be mentioned as the most favorable example, although the book is clumsy and exceedingly narrow-minded. The history of the Church, written for the use of educated men and women, has never been so much as attempted in this country. Our theologians have never been partial to ecclesiastical history, and in most cases they have been satisfied with accepting the statements of so-called standard authorities. Professor Allen's two volumes, covering the early Church and the middle age, are distinctly a new departure, for they rest in good part on original research.... There can be no reasonable doubt that in Professor Allen's work we have the most considerable attempt at the history of the Church ever made in the United States."—Boston Daily Advertiser.
Third Period."Modern Phases." (In press.)
A NEW LIFE OF SWEDENBORG. The Life and Mission of Emanuel Swedenborg. ByBenjamin Worcester. With an Introductory Chapter on Swedenborg's Place in History, an Appendix giving a complete list of Swedenborg's Writings, and a fine steel-engraved portrait and facsimile of his handwriting. One large 12mo volume. Cloth, gilt top. Price, $2.00.
"It is a large 12mo volume of towards five hundred pages, in which the author has collected, with great care, the leading facts relating to the Swedish seer, and has woven them into a biography prepared with scrupulous fidelity, though of course marked by the most reverent admiration for its subject. Mr. Worcester holds to the reality of the visions of Swedenborg, and believes the revelations which his works furnish as the result to be supplementary in the quality of inspiration to the Bible. The work is not one of the most attractively written pieces of biography; but its subject is interesting, and there are characteristics of Swedenborg which, aside from any supernatural endowment, plainly stamp him as one of the great minds of his time. His followers, if they are not as large as those of many of the religious sects of the day, are people of the purest minds and most intelligent perceptions, without a tendency to credulity or a tinge of fanaticism in their natures. This book will be welcomed by them as a repository of much that is valuable in the founder of their religion. It contains a portrait of Swedenborg. Many extracts from his writings are also given as incidental to the biography."—Gazette.
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⁂ Our publications are for sale by all booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of advertised price.
ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston
GEORGE ELIOT. Famous Women Series. ByMathilde Blind. One volume, 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00
"The first volume in the 'Famous Women' series just begun by Roberts Brothers is a life of 'George Eliot,' by Mathilde Blind. It is a clear, concise and masterly sketch, from a woman's point of view, of the career and work of the most remarkable figure in current English literature. It has a peculiar value, in that its author, in its preparation, collected her material from private and living sources. She had the assistance and countenance of Mr. Isaac Evans, a brother of George Eliot, from whom she obtained much valuable information, and a large mass of unpublished correspondence was placed at her disposal by such friends of the dead author as C. L. Lewes, W. M. Rosetti and James Thomson. By thus having her material at first hand, Miss Blind is enabled to correct certain mistakes which have found place in every memoir of George Eliot until now published."—Boston Transcript.
"Miss Blind's little book is written with admirable good taste and judgment, and with notable self-restraint. It does not weary the reader with critical discursiveness, nor with attempts to search out high-flown meanings and recondite oracles in the plain 'yea' and 'nay' of life. It is a graceful and unpretentious little biography, and tells all that need be told concerning one of the greatest writers of the time. It is a deeply interesting, if not fascinating, woman whom Miss Blind presents," says theN. Y. Tribune.
HESTER STANLEY AT ST. MARK'S. ByHarriet Prescott Spofford. With illustrations. Small 4to. Cloth. Price, $1.25
"For the first time Mrs. Spofford has tried her hand at a juvenile. 'Hester Stanley' is emphatically a girl's book, a story of school-day life 'at St. Mark's,' which will be read with great interest."
"This book is, we believe, the first attempt that Mrs. Harriet Prescott Spofford has made to write a story for girls, but it is written with so delicate a touch and in such a pleasing style that most girl readers who chance upon it will hope that it may not be the last. It is a story of a life in a girl's boarding-school, and the young heroine of it comes almost as near to the ideal of what is winning and womanly as Tom Brown did to the ideal of frank young manhood. The tone of the book is high and pure and sweet, and we do not remember a story among the recent issues of the press which can be placed in the hands of girls with a stronger assurance that they will be charmed with its teaching and inspiration."—Item.
EMILY BRONTË. Famous Women Series. ByA. Mary F. Robinson. One volume, 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00
"Miss Robinson has written a fascinating biography." ... "Emily Brontë is interesting, not because she wrote 'Wuthering Heights,' but because of her brave, baffled human life, so lonely, so full of pain, but with a great hope shining beyond all the darkness, and a passionate defiance in bearing more than the burdens that were laid upon her. The story of the three sisters was infinitely sad, but it is the ennobling sadness that belongs to large natures cramped and striving for freedom to heroic, almost desperate, work, with little or no result. The author of this intensely interesting, sympathetic and eloquent biography is a young lady and a poet, to whom a place is given in a recent anthology of living English poets, which is supposed to contain only the best poems of the best writers," says theBoston Daily Advertiser.
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⁂ Our publications are for sale by all booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of advertised price.
ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston.
THE JEAN INGELOW BIRTHDAY BOOK. With red-line border and divisions, 12 illustrations and portrait. 16mo. Cloth, gilt and illuminated. Price, $1.00
Full calf or morocco, $3.50
"This is a dainty little volume having a selection from Jean Ingelow for each day of the year. The extracts are of both prose and verse. There are graceful illustrations for each month suited in subject to the season. The book will be welcomed by admirers of this writer and must prove a popular gift-book for the birthday season."—Chicago Advance.
"We have seen no more tasteful book this year than 'The Jean Ingelow Birthday Book,' which Messrs. Roberts Brothers publish. It is somewhat larger in form than are the birthday books with which the public is familiar, is printed on very fine paper, and has a page with the usual quotations and the usual blanks, the whole encircled with a carmine line border, the date of the days of the months being printed in the same color. The work is illustrated with handsome engravings, and has a steel-engraved portrait of Jean Ingelow. The binding is a real gem. Nothing could well be more attractive in the way of cloth ornament than is its combination of design and color."—Saturday Evening Gazette.
UNDER THE SUN. By Phil. Robinson, the new English Humorist. With a Preface by Edwin Arnold, author of "The Light of Asia." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50
This is a volume of essays, humorous and pathetic, of incidents, scenes, and objects grouped under the heads: Indian Sketches, The Indian Seasons, Unnatural History, Idle Hours under the Punkah.
"Under the Sun," by Phil. Robinson, is one of the most delightful of recent books. The style is fascinating in its strength and picturesqueness, and there is now and then a delicious quaintness that recalls Charles Lamb. A volume such as this is rare in our day, when the art of essay writing is almost lost and forgotten. Freshness, vigor, humor, pathos, graphic power, a keen love for nature, a gentle love for animals, and a pleasing originality are among the more charming characteristics of this work, which may be read again and again with renewed satisfaction. Its scenes are laid in India, and whether the author discourses of the elephant, the rhinoceros, some bird that has attracted his attention, a tree, or a flower; whether he describes an exciting hunt, or tells a marvellous story; whether he moralizes or gives free rein to his fancy, he is always brilliant, fascinating, vivacious and masterly. It is difficult to write of this remarkable book without superlatives; but it is not too much to insist that it is impossible to exaggerate its peculiar merits, or to bestow too large a share of praise upon it. It is not a book for the few, but for the many, and all will find delight in its perusal."—Saturday Evening Gazette.
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⁂ Our publications are for sale by all booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of advertised price.
ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston.
A CONCISE ENGLISH HISTORY, From the Earliest Period to the Present Time. ByW. M. Lupton. A readable volume of 400 pages, comprising, in paragraphs, every important event in the history of England. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50
"Mr. W. M. Lupton's 'Concise English History' condenses into 332 pages the substance of the history of England from the invasion of Julius Cæsar down to our own time, and appends an index of 60 pages as a key to the contents of his admirable little book. It has peculiar merits as a school-book, and is the skeleton companion to the late J. R. Green's 'History of the English People.'"
"This is a volume that will be found very helpful to the student of history. It has 400 pages only, and yet every event of importance is to be found there. The general plan is to present the facts compressed into the fewest and clearest words. We heartily commend it."—School Journal.
AN INLAND VOYAGE. ByRobert Louis Stevenson, author of "Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00
"Those who have read Mr. Stevenson's delightful 'Travels with a Donkey,' in which he told the story of a unique trip among the mountains of Southern France, will gladly welcome this bright account of a canoe voyage through the canals of Belgium, on the Sambre, and down the Oise. Unlike Captain Macgregor, of 'Rob Roy' fame, Mr. Stevenson does not make canoeing itself his main theme, but delights in charming bits of description that, in their close attention to picturesque detail, remind one of the work of a skilled 'genre' painter. Nor does he hesitate, from time to time, to diverge altogether from his immediate subject, and to indulge in a strain of gently humorous reflection that furnishes some of the pleasantest passages of the book." ... "In a modest and quiet way Mr. Stevenson's book is one of the very best of the year for summer reading. The volume has a very neat design for the cover, with a fanciful picture of the 'Arethusa' and 'Cigarette,' the canoes of the author and his companion. The versatility which could produce works so unlike as 'An Inland Voyage' and the 'New Arabian Nights' is somewhat unusual."—Good Literature.
LETTERS TO A FRIEND. By the lateConnop Thirlwall, D. D., Bishop of St. David's, and edited by the late Dean Stanley. New and much enlarged edition. One volume, crown 8vo. Price, $1.50
"One of the most interesting collections of letters in the English language," says theSt. James' Gazette.
"Bishop Thirlwall's 'Letters to a Friend' were such delightful reading that every one will welcome the reprint of them. No pleasanter volume has appeared this season," says the LondonAthenæum.
"The letters which he wrote to a lady friend for a period of ten years give a most charming picture of Bishop Thirlwall.... These letters will be interesting to many people of culture, who will find instruction and profit in them."—Phila. Press.
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⁂ Our publications are for sale by all booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of advertised price.
ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston.
SINNERS AND SAINTS. A Tour across the States and around them, with Three Months among the Mormons. ByPhil. Robinson, author of "Under the Sun." 16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50
"Although he has won a reputation as a humorist, Mr. Robinson is one of the most faithful of descriptive writers, and his pictures of life in the United States, as seen through the eyes of the cosmopolitan Englishman, may be accepted as trustworthy and instructive. His humor is of the sort that never wearies, for it is never extravagant or forced."
"Mr. Robinson had peculiar facilities for an inside view of Mormon life, and his impressions are altogether different from accepted statements. His book will amply repay perusal."
"Mr. Robinson is the fortunate possessor of a rich and racy vein of humor, and the account he has given in the volume before us of his trip across the continent, and of his adventures in the territory of the Mormons, is entertaining in a very high degree. The larger part of the book is given up to a description of what the writer saw in Salt Lake City and the vicinity, and upon this subject he has much to say that will take most people by surprise. According to his story the Mormons have been very much maligned, and Mormonism, so far from being a pernicious and reprehensible institution, which ought, in the interest of the public and of morality, to be suppressed by the exercise of any force that may be needed to accomplish that purpose, is a praiseworthy and beneficent system. This differs widely from the prevailing idea, but Mr. Robinson is earnest and evidently sincere in his statements, and as a non-resident Anglo-Indian he certainly has no object to misrepresent the facts. His report is well worth a careful and dispassionate reading. Mr. Robinson's humor is of much the same order as that which makes the Mark Twain books so amusing, but it is wanting in that grave stolidity which distinguishes the American article, and is strongly flavored with the Dickens quality of fun."—North American, Phila.
RED CLOUD, THE SOLITARY SIOUX. A Story of the Great Prairie. ByLieut.-Col. Butler, author of "The Great Lone Land." With 24 full-page illustrations. One volume, uniform with "The Two Cabin Boys." Square 16mo. Cloth, black and gold. Price, $1.50
"Lieutenant-Colonel Butler's books, 'The Great Lone Land' and 'The Wild North Land,' have had thousands of charmed readers, the large majority of whom will follow him with delight in 'The Red Cloud, the Solitary Sioux, a Story of the Great Prairie,' in which he gives us a most interestingresumeof the dangers, delights, fascinations and fears of life in the hunting-grounds of the North-west. Of course there is much of fiction in the story, and in this respect we have a work as charming as any of Cooper's; but the adventures are such as might happen to any brave and energetic hunter. They afford us a most excellent example of what life in the prairies may be, surrounded by Indians, in the chase for the deer and the buffalo, and they contain so many examples of exciting adventure, of daring, of Indian craft, that all who are fond of that kind of life will find the 'Red Cloud' one of the most agreeable of companions. Col. Butler tells of adventure with much skill. He readily conveys to his readers a realistic sense of what he describes, and he writes in an easy and pleasing tone."—St. John's Globe.
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⁂ Our publications are for sale by all booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of advertised price.
ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston.
THE "WISDOM SERIES." Edited by the editor of "Quiet Hours" and "Sursum Corda." 16mo. Cloth, red edges. Flexible covers. Price per vol., $.50 Selections from the Imitation of Christ, by Thomas à Kempis; Selections from the Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus; Sunshine in the Soul (poems selected by the editor of "Quiet Hours"), First Series; Sunshine in the Soul, Second Series; Selections from Epictetus; The Wisdom of Jesus, the Son of Sirach: or Ecclesiasticus; The Wisdom of Solomon, and other Selections from the Apocrypha; Selections from Fénelon; The Life and Sermons of the Rev. Doctor John Tauler; Socrates, the Apology and Crito of Plato; Socrates, the Phædo of Plato. The above are also published in six volumes complete, enclosed in a handsome box, and include everything issued thus far. Price for the set, $4.50
"The editor who gave us the excellent volume of selected poems called 'Quiet Hours,' and who has just prepared another and similar book, has done the public a service by here putting together in compact form the best of the thoughts and aspirations which this generation is too little disposed to look for amidst the less pregnant and valuable matter with which they are mingled in the full editions. A brief but compact and readable memoir prefaces each volume."—Unitarian Review.
SUNSHINE IN THE SOUL. Poems selected by the editor of "Quiet Hours." Second Series, uniform with the First Series. 18mo. Cloth, red edges. Price, $.50 The two series in one volume. Cloth, red edges. Price, .75
"The compiler of 'Quiet Hours,' and other volumes of hymns and serious poems, has made a second collection of the poems that are so soothing, helpful and encouraging that she calls them 'Sunshine in the Soul.' They are published in the 'Wisdom Series' of Roberts Brothers, and can be carried about in one's pocket until they are transferred to one's memory, and have done their work of bringing light into dark places."
"Although it is small enough to fit easily in either a lady's or gentleman's pocket, it contains about one hundred and fifteen poems carefully selected from the popular and standard writers. In turning over the delicate little pages we see the names of Longfellow over 'The Legend Beautiful' and 'To-morrow,' and Christina G. Rosetti's over 'Who Shall Deliver Me?' There is also Whittier's name, Miss Mulock's, Wordsworth's, Faber's, Susan Coolidge's and many others, who have written tenderly, sweetly or helpfully upon higher or better thoughts of life, death and the world to come."—School Journal.
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⁂ Our publications are for sale by all booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of advertised price.
ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston.
GATHERINGS FROM AN ARTIST'S PORTFOLIO IN ROME. ByJames E. Freeman. The author, an American artist, long resident in Rome, gives an entertaining account of life in Rome, with reminiscences and tales, as the result of his personal experience. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.50
"It is in some respects a sequel to a very interesting volume from the same hand, which appeared three years ago under a similar title. It is an uncommonly bright, attractive and well-written book, pleasingly natural in style, full of information gracefully conveyed, picturesque in its descriptive portions, and overflowing with spirited sketches of character and events. In addition, the book has a touch of refined Bohemianism that lends it a special charm. The work is one that will be perused with genuine pleasure by readers of cultivated tastes."—Saturday Evening Gazette.
PLISH AND PLUM. From the German of William Busch, author of "Max Maurice." ByCharles T. Brooks. With 100 illustrations. 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.00
"Roberts Brothers, Boston, have published in 'Plish and Plum' one of the most delightful juveniles imaginable. It is translated from the German of William Busch by Chas. T. Brooks, and is the history of two uncommonly lively and rascally dogs. Plish is a slender and demure fellow, Plum a fat, smirking young wretch—both have an equally diabolical power of mischief. Their puppyhood is a time of woe to their possessors, the little Peter and Paul, who repeat in person and character the traits of their pets. How a comfortable dose of birch corrects and improves the four, and how the reward of virtue is bestowed upon them, must be left to the enraptured youngster to find out. The many illustrations, which more than the text tell the story, are little more than outlines, but are so humorous that they would almost bring a laugh to the lips of a graven image. There are such merriment, freshness and healthfulness about the little book, that the boy who gets it in his stocking is blest indeed."—Tribune.
New Editions of the Following Popular Books:
NONSENSE SONGS, Stories, Botany and Alphabets. ByEdward Lear. With colored illustrations. Square 12mo. Half cloth, illuminated covers. Price, $1.25
MAX AND MAURICE: A Juvenile History in Seven Books. ByWilliam Busch. With colored illustrations. 12mo. Half cloth, illuminated covers. Price, $.75
POSIES FOR CHILDREN. A Book of Verse. Selected by Mrs.A. C. Lowell. With illustrations. Small quarto. Illuminated cloth. Price, $1.50
OLD-FASHIONED FAIRY TALES. The original Munroe and Francis edition. Fully illustrated. Complete in one volume. Square 16mo. Red and black lettered. Price, $1.50
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⁂ Our publications are for sale by all booksellers, or will be sent post-paid on receipt of advertised price.
ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston.