One handsome volume, with Pictorial Title. Price, $2.00.
Only recently presented to American readers, this volume has made its mark, and will be henceforth classed among those works of fiction which hold a lasting place in literature.
"'On the Heights,' in its calm beauty, is like a bill-side meadow on a bright May morning, when every blade of grass holds a sparkling world, and the air is stirred by no sound save the matin songs of the birds, and no darkness falls upon the ground save the occasional shadow of a cloud, which creeps slowly away, giving place to the full flood of sunlight.
"The 'heights' are heights of social position, of intellectual striving, and of moral purity; and the problems treated are the deepest problems of life."—Rochester Democrat.
The title is beautifully chosen, originated by Goethe's line, "On every height there lies repose." Throughout it brings into sharp contrast the life of the palace and the life of the cottage.
"Thebeautyof the work lies in the idyllic charm of the good, true-hearted cottage life. Nothing in literature surpasses it; we think it would be no exaggeration to say that nothing rivals it. We will not recount, however briefly, the story here; that were to mar a pleasure for some reader whom we hope to draw to this great work. Suffice it to say that it is a record of sin and of expiation,—not of sin in its outward act, but in its essence. There is nothing sensational here, nothing lurid,—no bigamy, no savage murders; this book is a soul history, and a great crime—no less a one than the ruin of a family through a falsely directed love—is seen in the distance,—obscurely, as in the death of Mary Stuart in the last scene of Schiller's play. Amid the development of sin in a pure but passionate soul, and amid its expiation, there are brought upon the stage characters of Roman grandeur, not attractive, indeed, because stiff and hard, but truly noble and quickening.
"To the Christian reader the book appeals with special force, for being absolutely Christless, and yet dealing with the deepest needs of a sinning soul, it presents an argument stronger than any which we have ever seen for a Saviour who shall expiate sin, and leave the offender free to go on and labor and enter into the joy of life, without condemning himself to an expiation which shall end only with his death. Thus the book, which is a special plea in behalf of an absolutely Christless philosophy, leads directly and irresistibly to the cross of Christ. No religion is worth much, according to Auerbach, but for the poetry it guards and expresses. Yet, while this is the tone of the book, the writer of this article confesses that he rises from 'On the Heights' with a clearer sense of the need of Christianity to solve the deepest mysteries of woe and sin and suffering than he has had before, and that all who are able to see anything in this book but a charming and yet saddening story, will find themselves like-minded."—Extract from a review by a Clergyman in the Hartford Evening Post.
"The author's last work, 'On the Heights,' has been pronounced the finest German novel since Goethe's 'Wilhelm Meister.'"
"Auerbach is thought by many to be the first writer of fiction living."—New York Evening Post.
"Among the living European novelists, Auerbach holds a pre-eminent rank."—New York Tribune.
"The leading German novelist of these days."—New Haven Palladium.
"The genius of the master is stamped on the production of his pen."—Providence Post.
"'On the Heights' is the most remarkable novel that has come to us from the home of Goethe during the present century."—Northern Monthly,May, 1868.
"One of the few great works of the age."—JOHN G. SAXE,in Albany Argus.
EDELWEISS.A Story. Translated byEllen Frothingham. One volume. Square 16mo. Illuminated paper covers, price 75 cents; or in red cloth, price $1.00.
GERMAN TALES. Translated byC. C. Shackford. Square 16mo. Red cloth, price $1.00.
Mailed, postpaid, on receipt of the price, by the Publishers,
ROBERTS BROTHERS, Boston.
The attention of readers, and all who are engaged in the formation of public or private libraries, is called to the following books:—
Messrs.Roberts Brothersare publishing a series of Lives of Exemplary Women, uniform in style and price.
Memoirs and Correspondence of Madame Recamier. Translated from the French and edited by MissLuyster. with a fine portrait of Madame Recamier. Sixth edition. One handsome 12mo volume. Price $2.00.
"Her own contributions to it are exceedingly brief; but her individuality permeates the whole work, and gives it unity. She was undoubtedly a woman of genius: but it was in her life alone—in her noble friendships, in her unselfish devotion to all bound to her by any ties—that gave her genius expression; and it is only fair, therefore, that she should attain immortality, not through the labor of her own spirit, but rather through the praise of those by whom she was so well beloved."—Virginia Vaughan in the Leader.
Life and Letters of Madame Swetchine. By Count deFalloux. Translated by MissPreston. Fourth edition. In 1 vol. 12mo. Price $2.00.
"The 'Life and Letters of Madame Swetchine' is a companion volume to 'Madame Recamier;' and both works give us two phases of contemporary Paris life, and two characters, that, with some accidental resemblances, present strong points of contrast.
"The social influence both women exercised was good; but, when we compare the two, Madame Recamier's sinks to a much lower level. She (Madame R.) was gentle and kind, ready to sacrifice herself to any extent to advance the material influence of her friends, but she was essentially a worldly woman; whereas Madame Swetchine was 'in the world, but not of it.' She exerted an immense spiritual as well as intellectual influence on all who approached her, and raised her friends to her own level. Madame Recamier made her associatespleasedwith themselves, whilst Madame Swetchine taught hers toforgetthemselves.
"As a biography, the Life of Madame Swetchine is more satisfactory, and much better written; that of Madame Recamier is fuller of personal anecdote respecting distinguished persons, and, as a book of reference, is more valuable. We frequently meet the same people in each, and, in this respect, they serve to illustrate and explain each other."—Providence Journal.
The Friendships of Women. By Rev.W. R. Alger. Fourth edition. 1 vol. 12mo. Price $2.00.
"Mr. Alger is among our most diligent students and earnest thinkers; and this volume will add to the reputation he has fairly earned as the occupant of quite a prominent place in American literature. He deserves all the popularity he has won; for, always thoughtful, sincere, and excellent of purpose with his pen, he allows no success to seduce him into any content with what he has already accomplished. His 'Friendships of Women,' for many reasons, will have a wide circle of readers, and cannot fail to increase our sense of the worth of human nature, as it enthusiastically delineates some of its most elevated manifestations. By telling what woman has been, he tells what woman may be,—intellectually as well as morally, in the beauty of her mind as well as in the affections of her heart and the loveliness of her person."—Salem Gazette.
Sainte Beuve's Portraits of Celebrated Women. To match "Madame Recamier," "Madame Swetchine," "The Friendships of Women." In 1 vol. 12mo. Price $2.00.
"The women whose 'portraits' are given in this handsome volume are Mesdames de Sevigné, de La Fayette, de Souza, Roland, de Stäel, de Duras, de Remusat, de Krudenor, and Guizot. Most of these names will have a familiar look and sound to 'well-read' young ladies; but how many of the latter could give, without special preliminary cramming, any, even the most superficial, account of the life of any one of these women,—how she lived, what part she played in social or political life, what books she wrote, what were her excellences and faults, as well of character as of style? Those who could not, will do well to buy this book, and give it a careful reading. Besides adding to their knowledge of history, they will learn that there have been women, French women at that, who were neither butterflies nor drones, whose lives were wider than the ball-room or the nursery, who used their opportunities to become something and to do something in the world, and who still live in their writings and in the talk of cultivated men."—Hartford Courant.
The Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Edited, with a Memoir, by Mrs.Sarah J. Hale. 1 vol. 12mo. Cloth gilt. Price $2.00.
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu.—"The female wit of the days of Pope; benefactress of the species. Thy prose is admirable, better than acute, idiomatical, off-hand, conversational, without inelegance, fresh as the laugh on the young cheek, and full of brain. Admirable thou wert, and ever wilt thou be thought so."—Leigh Hunt.
The Letters of Madame de Sevigné to her Daughter and Friends. Edited, with a Memoir, by Mrs.Sarah J. Hale. 1 vol. 12mo. Cloth gilt. Price $2.00.
Madame de Sevigné:—"The moment her name is mentioned, we think of the mother who loved her daughter; of the most charming of letter-writers; of the ornament of an age of license, who incurred none of its ill-repute; of the female who has become one of the classics of her language, without effort and without intention."—Leigh Hunt.
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