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THE PUBLISHERS

AND

Searning

FOR TRANSMISSION ABROAD.

CIRCULAR

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General Record of British and Foreign Literature

CONTAINING A COMPLETE ALPHABETICAL LIST OF

ALL NEW WORKS PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN

AND

EVERY WORK OF INTEREST PUBLISHED ABROAD
[Issued on the 1st and 15th of each Month]

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PRICE

LITERARY INTELLIGENCE

BOOKS PUBLISHED IN GREAT BRITAIN FROM NOVEMBER 15 TO 29...................
BOOKS REDUCED IN PRICE

AMERICAN LITERATURE

FRENCH, GERMAN, AND ITALIAN LITERATURE
BOOKS NOW FIRST ADVERTISED AS PUBLISHED
BOOKS IN THE PRESS.

NEW EDITIONS AND BOOKS LATELY PUBLISHED

BOOKS SUITABLE FOR CHRISTMAS PRESENTS... .....................
ILLUSTRATED SUPPLEMENTS

PHOTOGRAPHIC ALBUMS..

ALMANACKS AND POCKET-BOOKS

MU SICAL PRESENTS

MISCELLANEOUS

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PRINTING PRESSES......

SALES BY AUCTION

BUSINESSES FOR SALE

WANT SITUATIONS

ASSISTANTS WANTED

BOOKS WANTED TO PURCHASE

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS:

47 LUDGATE HILL: Dec. 6, 1862.

THE HE new direction which the Christmas present books have this year taken is a subject of congratulation. Although it is with regret that we miss the richly illustrated volumes to which we have been accustomed since the first days of the Annual, we are glad to trace their artistic influence in the excellent embellishment of many of the more utilitarian books which have succeeded them. The truth is, that while such well-established artists as Millais and Holman Hunt, Gilbert and George Thomas, Watson and Keene, Wolf, Weir, and Schwecker, and such younger men as Walker and Lawless, continue to draw on wood, illustrated books will not be likely to go out of fashion. Probably such gems may never be seen again as Rogers's Italy and Poems-on which the banker-poet spent such vast sums of money— and possibly the days of exquisite wood-engraving are passed; but we certainly possess a band of vigorous artists, who draw with a firm hand, and know well what they are about—and perhaps the change suits the present generation.

It is to the proprietors of such periodicals as The Cornhill Magazine, and Once a Week, and Good Words, that we are mainly indebted for the developement of this new school of wooddrawing, of which Millais and Hunt are the leaders, and we venture to prophesy that every year will show us vast improvements in the productions of this artist-band. Let us remonstrate, however, against one tendency common to the whole school. It may be necessary, occasionally, to draw the figure on such a scale that the feet or the back are cut off, but the effect is generally ludicrous, and in more than one instance we have seen a really grand drawing utterly spoiled by this puerile affectation.

There is but one entirely new book published this season of a purely aesthetic character, and this has been in the hands of the engravers for more than three years: it is called Birket Foster's Pictures of English Landscape (Routledge & Co.), and is announced as the last contribution to book-illustration by that artist. His time is now so fully occupied by his water-colour drawings that he will probably never put pencil upon wood again. The work before us consists of thirty large engravings by the Messrs. Dalziel, with poetical descriptions by Tom Taylor and Mrs. Taylor. Taking into account the great cost of these engravings, this is one of the boldest speculations we have met with for some time. The publishers must sell a very large edition before they can reimburse themselves their outlay; but of this they may be certain — a day will come when all books containing good engravings from drawings by Birket Foster will be eagerly sought for, and those who have early editions of his finest works will do well to preserve them. There is no artist to equal him in tender grace or poetic sentiment, and not even Turner in his younger days had more enthusiastic admirers than Birket Foster at the present time. Of these English landscapes we cannot but pick out, as worthy of special admiration, "The Green Lane," with its charming flicker of light and shade; "A Winter Piece," with "Frost in the air, till every spray stands diamond-set with rime;" "At the Brookside," a very lovely bit of woodland scenery, with a solitary rabbit feeding at the path-side edge, and a wagtail dipping in the brook-the best piece of engraving in the volume; "The Stepping-stones," a true picture from nature; and "Under the Moonbeams," a tranquil night-scene in the fields, with the moon shining through the trees reflected in slightly-rippled water, The only word we have to say more about this beautiful work is, that it is a pity the engravers did not keep more closely to the artist's drawings, instead of attempting to produce the effect of etchings. It is a book that will | for all time delight the true lover of nature.

The next volume we take up is of a very different character-Fergusson's History of the Modern Styles of Architecture, illustrated with 312 engravings (John Murray). This work is a sequel to the same author's Handbook of Architecture, and will be even more popular. It treats of the ecclesiastic and secular architecture of all countries during the last four centuries, and is literally crammed with woodcuts. These have all been executed by Mr. James Cooper in a thoroughly satisfactory way some are drawn from photographs, and these are among the best; some from sketches, and some from larger architectural works. The frontispiece, a view of the "Victoria Tower" (from a photograph), is a firm piece of very excellent work; so are the "Vandramini Palace at Venice," "Heriot's Hospital in Edinburgh," "The Sultan's New Palace at Constantinople," "The Castle of Fredericksberg in Denmark," "The Hospital of Milan," "The Court of the Louvre," and a hundred more. To every student of architecture this book is invaluable: it would take years to hunt up the information which is compressed with in its pages.

One of the most interesting of this year's books is African Hunting, from Natal to the Zambesi, by William Charles Baldwin, published by Mr. Bentley. This admirably-got-up volume contains no less than eight lithographs by that very clever artist Wolf, and fifty woodcuts by Zwecker. To sportsmen, and those who are fond of exciting stories, this book will be a prize. Some of Wolf's pictures, such as the "African Serenade" and "Night Shooting," are full of character. Messrs. Longman & Co. have published two books, excellently adapted for Christmas presentsDr. Hartwig's Tropical World, and Sir Rutherford Alcock's Capital of the Tycoon. The Tropical World, which is a popular scientific account of the Natural History of Animals and Vegetables in the regions lying near the equator, is illustrated with eight engravings printed in colours, and nearly 200 small woodcuts. The Capital of the Tycoon is a Narrative of Three

Years' Residence in Japan, by the author, Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. This very entertaining narrative is illustrated by above a hundred chromolithographs and wood engravings.

The New Forest, its History and Scenery, by John R. Wise (Smith, Elder, & Co.), is the title of our next book. The author has included the whole district lying between Southampton Water and the Avon, which formed the boundaries of the forest in the time of Edward the First. The illustrations, which are numerous, are engraved by W. J. Linton, from drawings by a very young artist, Walter Crane, whom we shall some day meet again. They are all evidently sketched direct from nature, and but few artistic liberties have been taken. Some of these little pictures are quite charming for their freshness and truth: especially "The Valley of the Avon," ," "View in Studley Wood," "Oaks at Boldrewood," "Trees at Markash," and the "View from Bramble Hill." Mr. Linton's share of the work is admirably done: it is quite a pleasure to look at such engraving. Mr. Wise not only gives the history of the New Forest district, including a chapter on the death of William Rufus, but adds learned chapters on its Folk-lore and provincialisms, its Roman potteries, its geology, botany, and ornithology.

Early English Poems (Low, Son, & Co.), though it contains many engravings that have appeared before, is a very attractive volume. It contains one or more pieces by each of the most celebrated poets from Chaucer down to Pope, and these are accompanied by brief biographies, which enhance the interest of the work. A second series continues the same plan to the poets of our own days; and the two volumes contain a sketch of English poetry which will be found useful in any library. As drawing-room table books, we know of none more plentifully or beautifully illustrated, and they are precisely the kind of works one can take up with pleasure at any odd half hour. The designs to Milton's L'Allegro are copied, by permission, from the charming book published some years since by the Etching Club; and many of the illustrations, by John Gilbert, Birket Foster, George Thomas, Joseph Nash, and other well-known artists, are excellent examples of the best class of wood engraving.

Shakespeare's Songs and Sonnets, issued by the same publishers, contains about thirty drawings by John Gilbert, some of which are included in the Early English poems. Nearly all the Songs from the Dramas, and a selection of the best Sonnets, are printed in this handsome little

book.

In the Woods, illustrated by John A. Hows, contains three poems-"The Death of the Flowers," by Bryant; "When Woods are Green," by Longfellow; and "Wyoming," by Fitzgreene Halleck. Mr. Hows is a very original and certainly a clever artist. The beech trees on page 2, illustrative" of wailing winds, and naked woods, and meadows brown and sere," are exceedingly well drawn and effectively engraved; so is the group of ferns on page 6, and the landscape on the next leaf. There are two groups of fir-trees also in Longfellow's poem, which are charmingly drawn; and altogether, though some of the decorations are not quite in good taste, we can heartily commend this as an exceedingly well-illustrated book. Throughout the volume the engravers have done their task most praiseworthily. We have rarely seen better

execution.

Aphorisms of the Wise and Good is the title of a little book published by Messrs. Griffith & Farran. This is another of the series of little books illuminated by Samuel Stanesby. It contains twenty-eight pages of good sayings, by such men as Jeremy Taylor, Tillotson, Sir Philip Sidney, Fuller, Sir Thomas Browne, with an occasional extract from Shakespeare and Milton. The chromo-lithographic borders are neatly designed and carefully printed. We hope Mr. Stanesby saw the illuminated volumes shown by the publishers of Paris and Tours in the International Exhibition. He might have taken a hint from some of them.

Golden Leaves from the Works of the Poets and Painters is a collection of English poems from the days of Chaucer to the present time, edited by Mr. Robert Bell, and illustrated with a series of beautifully executed steel engravings. These have all appeared before, but nevertheless help to ornament a very beautifully printed volume, which we do not doubt will be a favourite. The charming little pictures by Stothard, Etty, Haydon, and Boxall, are like sparkling gems.

Sir Walter Scott's Lady of the Lake, illustrated with fourteen photographs by Thomas Ogle and G. W. Wilson, published by Mr. Bennett, next comes to our hands. This is a good idea, that the artist will doubtless improve upon. "Ellen's Isle," "Glenfinlas," the "Brig of Turk," and "Bealnam-bo" are satisfactory photographs; but we cannot say as much of "Loch Katrine"- chosen from a very uninteresting point-or "Benledi." Mr. Ogle must have been unfortunate in the weather during his tour. In all his thirteen pictures we can trace but one gleam of sunshine! The consequence is, that the mountains are flat, and far too deep in tone. Better luck to him next year.

Mr. MURRAY has this year published two books of travels, which may fairly be ranked under the head of Christmas books. 1. Five months on the Yang-tsze, by Captain Blakiston, with twenty-four illustrations drawn on wood by Mr. Hine, from sketches by Dr. Alfred Barton. This entertaining volume contains a narrative of a voyage of upwards of 800 miles up the Upper Yang-tsze, through a country unknown to Europeans. Dr. Barton's sketches show him to be an excellent amateur artist, and Mr. Whymper deserves praise for the execution of the engraving. 2. Four Years in British Columbia and Vancouver's Island, with an Account of their Forests, Rivers, Coasts, Gold-fields, and resources for colonisation, by Commander R. C. Mayne, R.N. Illustrated with twenty engravings from sketches by Mr. E. P. Bedwell, R.N., Dr. Lyall, and

Dr. Lindley. The views of a street in Victoria, and the outside of the town, give us stay-athome travellers a good notion of the appearance of a young colonial city.

The complete volume of Good Words shows us how much we are indebted to Messrs. Strahan for their endeavours to give the best art they can get. Mr. Millais' illustrations to Miss Mulock's story are, of course, though sketchy, all very clever, and the new men, Simeon Solomon, Houghton, Pettie, and Machirter, are each entitled to a word of praise. We only wish that they would make their drawings more carefully-surely a little more refinement need not interfere with dash and vigour. Messrs. Strahan announce that they have bought a series of twelve drawings by John Millais, illustrating the Parables (see the engraving of The Ten Virgins in our pages), which are to appear in the course of next year. To the uninitiated, the price paid for these twelve wood blocks-one thousand pounds!-would appear fabulous; but we have spent a good hour in looking over the series, and we are sure that the money will be well laid out, and that the popularity of Good Words will be much enhanced by the publication of such real works of art. Messrs. Dalziel deserve great praise for the excellent rendering of the artist's touch.

Our summary of illustrated books would be incomplete did we not congratulate the publishers of The Cornhill Magazine on the good taste which has led them to make the illustrations of their periodical such worthy companions to the literary merits of the volume. Mr. Leighton's illustrations of Romola are exceedingly clever. Mr. Trollope and Mr. Millais go well together, and of course Mr. Doyle's cartoons are enjoyed by everybody.

The second volume of London Society will contain many capital engravings. The proprietors evidently find it to their interest to give the very best pictures they can get, and, though they are not always successful, the fault is not theirs. In their Christmas number they promise engravings from the pencils of Millais, Pickersgill, George Thomas, Watson, and other good men.

The influence which good art exercises over the public taste has now become so thoroughly understood, that even the proprietors of weekly publications which, until these last few years, were content with "sensation" pictures of the lowest school, are turning their attention to a ! better state of things. To this they have been urged by the success of Once a Week, in the pages of which we are accustomed to find engravings of the best class-for instance, Millais' exquisite illustration to the Poet Laureate's verses, "The Grandmother's Excuse."

The National Magazine has adopted the peculiar feature of illustrating each monthly shilling number with a photographic view of some place or object of interest described in the magazine. The views of Westminster Bridge, of the Queen's Residence at Balmoral, of Tintern Abbey, and that in the last number, of St. Paul's from the Thames, including the wharfs at Queenhithe almost the only picturesque spot on the shore of our still unembanked river-are remarkably clear and well executed. The magazine contains a variety of amusing papers.

The complete volumes of The Leisure Hour and The Sunday at Home show that the Religious Tract Society are not behind-hand in the "getting up" of the publications. In both volumes we find very fair illustrations by John Gilbert and other good artists; and we are glad to notice the publishers' promise that during the new year they will give a coloured plate with each monthly part and that these plates will be sold separately at one penny each. If this idea be well carried out, every cottager will be able to hang his rooms with little pictures that will help to make his home cheerful and pleasant-looking.

Not less than thirty new books for young folks of various ages lie before us, and where to begin is a puzzle. Seniores priores, as we used to say at school. Let us look at the big boys' books first. For them we have Memorable Battles in English History, by Mr. Davenport Adams (Griffith & Farran), with accounts of the fields of Hastings, Lewes, Crecy, Agincourt, Naseby, Blenheim, Plassey, Quebec, Waterloo, and the Crimea, with biographies of Harold, Simon de Montfort, the Black Prince, Henry V., Oliver Cromwell, Marlborough, Clive, Wolfe, and Wellington. These "oft-told tales" are well put together, and make a capital reading-book for boys who are fond of military adventure. There is but one engraving-more's the pity-and this is an heraldic device with portraits of some of the greatest of the great men.

Kingston's Annual for Boys (Low, Son, & Co.), the fourth of the series, contains, as usual, stirring tales of adventure, written by the editor and his friends, Notes on Natural History, and plenty of miscellaneous information. The pages are sprinkled liberally with woodcutssome humorous, some picturesque, and some useful - and the whole make 400 pages of very entertaining reading.

The Three Midshipmen is a reprint from a former volume of this annual, and is illustrated with twenty-nine very good engravings from drawings by George Thomas and Julian Portch. We have known of old that this story is a great favourite with boys.

Routledge's Every Boy's Annual is very similar in style to Mr. Kingston's, containing Tales, Stories of Domestic Pets, Football, Chess and Cricket, Wonderful Adventures by Sea and Land, and a few humorous stories. Many of the engravings are very good. Some few have done duty elsewhere, but as these are among the best, we will not quarrel with the publishers

on that account.

The Wild Man of the West, by R. M. Ballantyne, and the Story of Cervantes, by A. B. Edwards, are both reprinted from this Magazine. The former is well illustrated by Mr.

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Zwecker, an artist who has much improved of late, the latter by some clever draughtsmen, names unknown.

Stories of the Woods and Stories of the Sea are the names of two very capital books for boys, consisting of narratives from Fennimore Cooper's immortal novels. It is pleasant to meet with our old friend Leather-stocking after so many years in quite a new guise. We can well remember the breathless interest with which we used to read of his marvellous exploits; and now a new generation may pass their holiday hours in company with Deer-slayer or the Red Rover. Both these books are well illustrated by that very clever artist, Felix Darley.

Our Soldiers, or Anecdotes of the Campaigns and Gallant Deeds of the British Army, and Our Sailors, or Anecdotes of the Engagements of the British Navy during the Reign of Queen Victoria, are both by the indefatigable Mr. Kingston. The first contains about one hundred anecdotes of our gallant countrymen in India from 1839 to 1848, in the Crimea in 1854 and 1855, and in India again in the dreadful massacres of 1857 and 1858; and the latter, anecdotes of the gallant exploits of our sailors in every quarter of the globe.

The next book we take up is Dick Rodney, or the Adventures of an Eton Boy, by James Grant (Routledge & Co.). This is a sea-story, with the usual amount of storms and wrecks and desert islands, with very good illustrations of ships and sea by Keeley Halswelle.

The Boyhood of Martin Luther, by Mr. Henry Mayhew (Low, Son, & Co.) will be one of the favourites of the season. Mr. Mayhew's writing is always charming, and with such an excellent subject he was certain to succeed. The illustrations, by Mr. John Absolon, are the best we have seen for years from his graceful pencil.

Scenes and Stories of the Rhine, by M. Betham Edwards (Griffith & Farran) is evidently an account of a real tour from St. Katherine's Docks to Rotterdam, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Bonn, up the Rhine, past Rolandseck, as far as Mentz, and then to Frankfort, Darmstadt, and Heidelberg. It is written in a very lively style, and there are some characteristic illustrations by a German artist, Mr. F. W. Keyl.

Snow-Flakes, by the same author, is a companion volume to Little Bird Red, published by Messrs. Low last year. The Snow-Flakes tell pretty stories in verse, which are illustrated with a series of coloured pictures by Mr. Hablot Browne, and set in flower borders arranged by Mr. Macquoid. This makes a very pleasing gift-book for a little girl.

First Steps in Life, by the late Mrs. Geldart, is a collection of Tales and Sketches for the Young, collected from a magazine to which they were some years since originally contributed, and now published by Messrs Seeley & Co. This is an excellent book for Sunday afternoons or evenings, when the Church is too far off. The tales, fourteen in number, are all of a character likely to interest young people: two are about Westminster Abbey, and the last two are biographies of Lady Fanshawe and Mrs. Hutchinson.

Fickle Flora and her Seaside Friends, by Emma Davenport (Griffith & Farran), is a story of two little girls who go to Scarborough and hunt for carnelians and actiniæ, and who quarrel and make it up again. It contains four pleasant little drawings by Mr. Absolon.

Piccalilli, a Mixture, by Gilbert Percy, is a gathering of tales and fables, similar to those by Hans Christian Andersen, very gracefully ornamented by Mr. Macquoid, and with an exquisite frontispiece by George Thomas, alone worth the price of the volume. The circular landscape by Macquoid on page 35 is also very clever.

Messrs. SMITH & ELDER have this year catered liberally for the young folks, and have issued1. Children's Sayings, or Early Life at Home, by Caroline Hadley, illustrated with four engravings from clever drawings by Walter Crane. The titles of the chapters, "I can't do it," "I don't care," "It does not matter," indicate the kind of tales which this volume contains. 2. Tuflongbo's Journey in search of Ogres, which gives an account of his early life and how his shoes got worn out. It is a capital book, full of fun, written by Mr. Holme Lee, and has six very fair illustrations by H. Sanderson. We are not sure that this volume would not be chosen out of all our tableful by many a young gentleman who prefers plum-pudding to roast beef. 3. Stories of Old; Bible narratives suited to the capacity of young children, in two series. Each of these volumes contains fifty stories (the first taken from the Old, the second from the New, Testament) and both are illustrated by Walter Crane. That so young a man-we learn that he is only seventeen-should have been able to design and draw on wood the twelve Bible pictures which are given in these volumes, is a sign of very considerable talent, and we shall look forward to the future works of this artist with much expectation. When we recollect that he made the landscape drawings also for Mr. Wise's book on the New Forest, we are the more astonished at the early display of so much power. We hope Mr. Crane will not be led away by any praise he may receive he is in the right path, and if he will study and persevere he will achieve something more worthy of remark than his this year's drawings.

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Messrs. NISBET have just published a new book, by Miss Warner, the Author of the Wide, Wide World, entitled The Golden Ladder, Stories illustrative of the Eight Beatitudes. It is illustrated with coloured plates, designed by John Absolon, printed on toned paper, and bound with bevelled boards to make it an attractive present book.

We now find a pile of little books, which are published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. All are illustrated and carefully printed, and though not exactly Christmas books, they will be received with much delight during the coming holidays by those into whose hands they fall. The most important is British Birds in their Haunts, illustrated with 190 engravings by Wolf. We do not know of any book of Natural History containing better

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