Chapter 11

Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff, besides being a distinguished public-servant, was a popular member of society with a genius for gathering and recording good stories. In his series of "Notes from a Diary" he jotted down the best things he heard, and thereby made some very enjoyable volumes, which in cheaper guise will repeat and increase the success they gained in their more expensive form.

LAVENGRO: The Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest.ByGeorge Borrow. With 6 Pen and Ink Sketches byPercy Wadham.

This edition contains the unaltered text of the original issue: with the addition of some Suppressed Episodes printed only in the Editions issued by Mr. Murray; MS. Variorum, Vocabulary, and Notes by the late ProfessorW. I. Knapp.

OUR ENGLISH BIBLE.The Story of its Origin and Growth. ByH. W. Hamilton Hoare, late of Balliol College, Oxford, now an Assistant Secretary to the Board of Education, Whitehall. With Specimen Pages of Old Bibles.

An historical sketch of the lineage of our Authorised Version, which was published in 1901 under the title of "The Evolution of the English Bible."

The aim of the sketch is to give, in a continuous and narrative form, a history of our English translations, and to exhibit them in close connection with the story of the national life.

THE LETTERS OF QUEEN VICTORIA.A Selection from her Majesty's correspondence between the years 1837 and 1861. Edited byA. C. Benson, M.A., C.V.O., andViscount Esher, G.C.V.O., K.C.B. With 16 Portraits. 3 vols. 1s. net each volume.

Published by authority of his Majesty King Edward VII. This edition is not abridged, but is the complete and revised text of the original.

ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY MEANS OF NATURAL SELECTION.ByCharles Darwin. Popular impression of the Corrected Copyright Edition. Issued with the approval of the author's executors.

The first edition of Darwin's "Origin of Species" has now passed out of copyright.

It should, however, be clearly understood that the edition which thus loses its legal protection is the imperfect edition which the author subsequently revised and which was accordingly superseded. This, the complete and authorised edition of the work, will not lose copyright for some years.

The only complete editions authorised by Mr. Darwin and his representatives are those published by Mr. Murray.

ROUND THE HORN BEFORE THE MAST.An Account of a Voyage from San Francisco round Cape Horn to Liverpool in a Fourmasted "Windjammer," with experiences of the life of an Ordinary Seaman. ByBasil Lubbock. With Illustrations.

The Sheffield Independentsays:—"If you care to read what life at sea in a sailing vessel really is like, this is the book that tells the story.... Mr. Lubbock has a fine power of telling a tale realistically. To read him is as good as being on the spot, and having the sights for yourself, without the hardships. I have never read any work about the sea that is as vivid and actual as this."

ENGLISH BATTLES AND SIEGES IN THE PENINSULA.ByLieut.-Gen. Sir William Napier, K.C.B. With Portrait.

In spite of the countless books which have appeared on the Peninsular War, this great work has preserved its popularity as a standard book on the subject for over half a century and still holds its own when most rivals, which have appeared since, have faded into oblivion.

STUDIES IN THE ART OF RAT-CATCHING.ByH. C. Barkley.

"Should the reader know of a schoolboy fond of ratting, the proud possessor possibly of a sharp terrier, and, maybe, a few ferrets, and wish to bestow a present upon him, the memory of which would last throughout his life, we could not do better than advise him to purchase this most pleasantly-written book and bestow it upon him."—Field.

THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT.By the Right Rev.Charles Gore, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of Oxford.

The success of this book must constitute a record in modern sermonic literature. There can be no question, however, that its success is due to its own intrinsic value. Cultured and scholarly, and yet simple and luminous, eloquent in tone and graceful in diction, practical and stimulating, it is far and away the best exposition of the Sermon on the Mount that has yet appeared.

THE HOUSE OF QUIET.An Autobiography. ByA. C. Benson.

"The House of Quiet" is an autobiography, and something more—a series of very charming essays on people and life—particularly rural life. The writer has placed himself in the chair of an invalid, an individual possessed of full mental vigour and free from bodily pain, but compelled by physical weakness to shirk the rough and tumble of a careless, unheeding, work-a-day world. Cheerfully accepting the inevitable, he betakes himself to a little temple of solitude, where he indulges himself in mild criticism and calm philosophy, exercising a gift of keen observation to the full, but setting down all that comes within his ken, with quaint and tolerant humour and tender whimsicalness. He writes with a pen dipped in the milk of human kindness, and the result is a book to read time and again.

THE THREAD OF GOLD.ByA. C. Benson.

The Guardiansays:—"The style of the writing is equally simple and yet dignified; from beginning to end an ease of movement charms the reader. The book is abundantly suggestive.... The work is that of a scholar and a thinker, quick to catch a vagrant emotion, and should be read, as it was evidently written, in leisure and solitude. It covers a wide range—art, nature, country life, human character, poetry and the drama, morals and religion."

THE PAINTERS OF FLORENCE.From the 13th to the 16th Centuries. ByJulia Cartwright(Mrs.Ady). With Illustrations.

Mrs. Ady is a competent and gifted writer on Italian painting, and presents in these 350 pages an excellent history of the splendid art and artists of Florence during the golden period from Cimabue and Giotto to Andrea del Sarto and Michelangelo. Those who are taking up the study of the subject could not wish for a more interesting and serviceable handbook.

A LADY'S LIFE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS.By Mrs.Bishop(Isabella L. Bird). With Illustrations.

The Irish Timessays:—"'A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains' needs no introduction to a public who have known and admired Mrs. Bishop (Isabella L. Bird) as a fearless traveller in the days when it was something of an achievement for a woman to undertake long and remote journeys. Mrs. Bishop is a charming and spirited writer, and this cheap edition of her work will be heartily welcomed."

THE LIFE OF DAVID LIVINGSTONE.ByWilliam Garden Blaikie. With Portrait.

This is the standard biography of the great missionary who will for ever stand pre-eminent among African travellers.

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