THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS.
Being a popular account of Religions Ancient and Modern.
WITH UPWARDS OF THREE HUNDRED ILLUSTRATIONS.
“No less surprising a monument of industry and research than its predecessor.... Cannot be too highly praised for its compendiousness and completeness.”—Daily Telegraph.
“A work of enormous research.... Distinguished by absolute impartiality and judicious selection.”—Echo.
“The reader’s attention is held from beginning to end.”—London Quarterly Review.
“Very valuable as a book of reference.”—Spectator.
“It is wonderful how well and accurately Mr. Bettany has done his work.”—British Weekly.
“A library in itself.”—Christian Age.
AN INEXPENSIVE LIBRARY OF INDISPENSABLE BOOKS.
THE
MINERVA LIBRARY
OF FAMOUS BOOKS.
Edited by G. T. BETTANY, M.A., B.Sc., F.L.S.
An Illustrated Series of first-class Books, averaging from 400 to 600 pages, strongly and attractively bound in cloth,
PRICE TWO SHILLINGS EACH VOLUME,
WITH CUT OR UNCUT EDGES.
In Half-Calf or Half-Morocco, Price Five Shillings each Volume.
The Design and Plan of the MINERVA LIBRARY OF FAMOUS BOOKS have been amply justified by the remarkable favour with which it has been received by the press and the public. The design is to provide at the lowest possible cost books which every intelligent reader will wish to possess in a form readable, attractive, and lasting. The issue at monthly intervals, not so frequent as to distract, not so intermittent as to lose the advantage of regularity, enables readers to add to their library at an almost imperceptible cost. Thus for about one pound a year, every man may form a library which will afford an ever-increasing source of gratification and cultivation to himself and his family. There is no doubt, as in buying the novelties of the day, as to whether the new volume will prove to be of permanent value and interest. It will have already stood the test of time and of good critics, though frequently it may have been unattainable except at a heavy cost. The Minerva Library includes only works of widespread popularity, which have proved themselves worthy of a permanent place in literature.
Variety is studied in the selection of books, so that all classes of the best literature of all nations may be represented. The adoption of the name “Minerva” is justified by the abundant wisdom, thought, and imaginative and inventive power which the books will be found to contain.
Each volume contains an introduction by the Editor, in which a biography of the author, or critical or explanatory notes, place the reader in sympathy with the author and his work. In some of the books additional elucidations and illustrations of the text are given, and in others side-notes indicate the subjects of the paragraphs.
The number of separate Plates as well as illustrations in the text forms a marked feature of the series. As far as possible an authentic portrait of every author is given. An inspection of the books only is needed to make their attractiveness evident.
Every Englishman who reads and thinks, and wishes to possess the BEST BOOKS, should have every book in the Minerva Library.
The Youth beginning to form a Library of books for lifelong companionship cannot do better than subscribe to the Minerva Library.
Schools, Mechanics, and Village Libraries, and literary institutions of all kinds, should provide themselves with a number of copies of this inexpensive library of indispensable books.
The Artisan and the Shop Assistant will find their means and opportunities consulted in this series. They cannot buy the best books in the English language in a better and cheaper form combined.
Naturally every Englishman wants to possess the choice works of the greatest Englishmen; and to complete his ideas as a citizen of the world, he needs a selection of the greatest writings of the geniuses of other countries. Both these wants it is the object of the Minerva Library to supply.
Volume I.—Ninth Edition.
CHARLES DARWIN’S JOURNAL During the Voyage of H.M.S. “Beagle” round the World. With a Biographical Introduction by the Editor, Portrait of Darwin, and Illustrations.
“‘The Minerva Library,’ the new venture of Messrs. Ward, Lock & Co. has made an excellent start.... No better volumes could be chosen for popular reading of a healthy sort than ‘Darwin’s Journal of Researches during the Voyage of the Beagle,’ and ‘Borrow’s Bible in Spain.’ The paper is good, the type is tolerable, the binding is in excellent taste, and the price is extremely low.”—Athenæum.
Volume II.—Fourth Edition.
THE INGOLDSBY LEGENDS. With a Critical Introduction by the Editor, Portrait of the Author, and reproductions of the celebrated Illustrations by Phiz and Cruikshank.
“This series, which is edited by Mr. G T. Bettany, is neatly bound, well illustrated, and nicely printed.”—Graphic.
“The determination of the publishers of the ‘Minerva Library’ to render the series attractive and representative of English literature of all kinds, is strikingly displayed in this volume.... The book is well printed and bound, and will be eagerly welcomed by all desiring to obtain at a small cost a good edition of the works of the famous humourist.”—Liverpool Courier.
Volume III.—Third Edition.
BORROW’S BIBLE IN SPAIN: The Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments of an Englishman, in an attempt to circulate the Scriptures in the Peninsula. By George Borrow, Author of “The Gipsies of Spain.” With a Biographical Introduction by the Editor, and Illustrations.
“Lovers of good literature and cheap may be commended to the ‘Minerva Library’ Edition of ‘The Bible in Spain,’ edited by Mr. G. T. Bettany. This is an excellent reprint, with neat binding, good type, and fair woodcuts.”—Saturday Review.
Volume IV.—Fourth Edition.
EMERSON’S PROSE WORKS: The complete Prose Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. With a Critical Introduction by the Editor, and Portrait of the Author.
“The series, judging by the initial volumes, will be endowed with everything that makes reading pleasant and agreeable.... The printing is a marvel of clearness, the slurs that too often characterise cheap volumes being conspicuous by their absence.... The binding is both elegant and durable.... If the excellence of the first volumes is maintained in the future, the series will enjoy a success both widespread and prolonged.” City Press.
Volume V.—Fourth Edition.
GALTON’S SOUTH AFRICA: The Narrative of an Explorer in Tropical South Africa: being an Account of a Visit to Damaraland in 1851. By Francis Galton, F.R.S. With a New Map and Appendix, together with a Biographical Introduction by the Editor, Portrait of Mr. Galton, and Illustrations. Containing also Vacation Tours in 1860 and 1861, by Sir George Grove, Francis Galton, F.R.S., and W. G. Clark, M.A.
“Be it understood the ‘Minerva Library’ presents itself in a form that even the lover of luxurious books could scarcely find fault with.”—Warrington Guardian.
“The ‘Minerva Library’ will be hailed with delight, we are sure, by all readers.—”The Weekly Times.
Volume VI.—Third Edition.
THE BETROTHED LOVERS (I Promessi Sposi). By Alessandro Manzoni. With a Biographical Introduction by the Editor, and Portrait of the Author.
Of this great work Goethe wrote:—“Manzoni’s romance transcends all that we have knowledge of in this kind. I need only say that the internal part, all that comes from the core of the poet, is thoroughly perfect, and that the external part, all the notes of localities and so forth, is not a whit behind its great inner qualities.... The work gives us the pleasure of an absolutely ripe fruit.”
Volume VII.—Fourth Edition.
GOETHE’S FAUST (Complete). Translated in the Original Metres, with copious Critical and Explanatory Notes by Bayard Taylor. With a Critical Introduction by the Editor, Portrait of Goethe, and Retzsch’s Illustrations.
⁂ This is a full and complete reprint of Bayard Taylor’s unrivalled rendering of Goethe’s masterpiece. It is published by special arrangement with Mrs. Bayard Taylor, and contains the whole of the Translator’s copious and extremely valuable Notes, Introductions, and Appendices.
Volume VIII.—Third Edition.
WALLACE’S TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON: Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro. By Alfred Russel Wallace, Author of “The Malay Archipelago,” “Darwinism,” etc. Giving an account of the Native Tribes, and Observations on the Climate, Geology, and Natural History of the Amazon Valley. With a Biographical Introduction, Portrait of the Author, and Illustrations.
“It would be impossible to overrate the service which Mr. Wallace, the co-discoverer of Darwinism, has done.”—Times, September 11th, 1889.
Volume IX.—Third Edition.
DEAN STANLEY’S LIFE OF DR. ARNOLD. The Life and Correspondence of Thomas Arnold, D.D. (Head-Master of Rugby School). By Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, D.D., Dean of Westminster. With a Portrait of Dr. Arnold, and Full-page Illustrations.
“One of the most remarkable and most instructive books ever published—a book for which Arnold himself left abundant materials in his voluminous correspondence, supplemented by a large quantity of miscellaneous matter added by his friend and former pupil, Dean Stanley.”—Morning Advertiser.
Volume X.—Second Edition.
POE’S TALES OF ADVENTURE, MYSTERY, AND IMAGINATION. By Edgar Allan Poe. With a Biographical Introduction by the Editor, Portrait of the Author, and Illustrations.
“Contains over forty of Poe’s marvellous stories, certainly among the most exciting and sensational tales ever written. The volume itself is a marvel, comprising, as it does, over 560 pages, strongly and neatly bound, for two shillings.”—Newcastle Chronicle.
Volume XI.—Second Edition.
COMEDIES BY MOLIERE: Including The Would-be Gentleman; The Affected Young Ladies; The Forced Marriage; The Doctor by Compulsion; Scapin’s Rogueries; The Blunderer; The School for Husbands; The School for Wives; The Miser; The Hypochondriac; The Misanthrope; The Blue-Stockings; Tartuffe, or the Hypocrite. Newly Translated by Charles Matthew, M.A. The Translation revised by the Editor, with a Portrait of the Author, and Biographical Introduction.
“We hope that this new translation of Molière’s magnificent comedies will make them as widely known as they deserve to be.”—Playgoer.
Volume XII.—Second Edition.
FORSTER’S LIFE OF GOLDSMITH: The Life and Times of Oliver Goldsmith. By John Forster, Author of “The Life of Charles Dickens,” etc. With a Biography of Forster by the Editor, and Numerous Illustrations by Maclise, Stanfield, Leech, and others.
Forster’s “Life of Goldsmith” is a work which ranks very high among successful biographies. Washington Irving said of it: “It is executed with a spirit, a feeling, a grace, and an elegance, that leave nothing to be desired.”
Volume XIII.—Second Edition.
LANE’S MODERN EGYPTIANS: The Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians. By Edward William Lane, Translator of the “Arabian Nights’ Entertainments.” With a Biographical Introduction by the Editor, Sixteen Full-page Plates, and Eighty Illustrations in the Text.
“A famous and valuable book by one of the best Oriental Scholars of the century. It is, indeed, the fact that the present work is, as has been said, the most remarkable description of a people ever written.”—Glasgow Herald.
Volume XIV.
TORRENS’ LIFE OF MELBOURNE: Memoirs of William Lamb, Second Viscount Melbourne. By W. M. Torrens. With Introduction by the Editor, and Portrait of Lord Melbourne.
“It is, indeed, one of the best and most interesting biographies ever written.... For ourselves, we must admit we have read the book from cover to coyer with avidity, and we hope it will reach the hands of tens of thousands of our middle and working classes.”—Daily Chronicle.
Volume XV.—Third Edition.
THACKERAY’S VANITY FAIR. Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero. By William Makepeace Thackeray. With Biographical Introduction by the Editor, Portrait of the Author, and full-page Illustrations.
“The masterpiece of Thackeray’s satire is here placed within reach of the slenderest purse, and yet in a form that leaves nothing to be desired in the way of clear printing, and neat, serviceable binding.”—Manchester Examiner.
Volume XVI.
BARTH’S TRAVELS IN AFRICA: Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa. Including Accounts of Tripoli, the Sahara, the Remarkable Kingdom of Bornu, and the Countries round Lake Chad. By Henry Barth, Ph.D., D.C.L., With Biographical Introduction by the Editor, Full-page Plates, and Illustrations in the Text.
“Barth’s journey through Tripoli to Central Africa is full of instruction and entertainment. He had a fine feeling for the remote, the unknown, the mysterious.... Altogether, his is one of the most inspiring of records.”—Saturday Review.
Volume XVII.
VICTOR HUGO: SELECT POEMS AND TRAGEDIES. (“Hernani” and “The King’s Amusement.”) Translated by Francis, First Earl of Ellesmere, Sir Edwin Arnold, K.S.I., Sir Gilbert Campbell, Bart., Bp. Alexander, Richard Garnett, LL.D., Andrew Lang, LL.D., Clement Scott, M.A., Charles Matthew, M.A., Nelson R. Tyerman, and many others. With Portrait of Victor Hugo.
“One of the best volumes yet issued in the splendid series of ‘Famous Books’ which go to make up Messrs. Ward, Lock & Co’s ‘Minerva Library.’”—Northampton Mercury.
Volume XVIII.
DARWIN’S CORAL REEFS, VOLCANIC ISLANDS, AND SOUTH AMERICAN GEOLOGY: With Critical and Historical Introductions, specially written for this edition by Professor John W. Judd, F.R.S., Professor of Geology in the Normal College of Science, South Kensington. With Maps and Illustrations.
Darwin’s “Coral Reefs” is at once one of his most notable and charming books, and one that has excited a most vigorous recent controversy. His account of the Volcanic Islands he visited, and his still more remarkable book describing the vast changes that have taken place in South America in geological time, are also reprinted in this volume, thus completing the “Geology of the Voyage of the Beagle.”
Volume XIX.—Second Edition.
LOCKHART’S LIFE OF BURNS: The Life of Robert Burns. By John Gibson Lockhart. Revised Edition. With New Notes, Appendices, and Literary Illustrations by John H. Ingram. With Portrait and Full-page Illustrations.
“One of the best biographies ever written, and every admirer of Scotia’s well-known bard who has not got it should hasten to procure the wonderfully cheap and good edition now within his reach.”—Weekly Times and Echo.
Volume XX.
BARTH’S TRAVELS IN AFRICA. (Second and Concluding Volume): Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa, including accounts of Timbúktu, Sókoto, and the Basins of the Niger and Bénuwé. By Henry Barth, Ph.D., D.C.L. With Full-page Plates and 50 Woodcuts.
“These travels rank among the foremost of the enterprises which have illuminated our ignorance about Central Africa; and the work possesses at the present time, a special interest.”—Newcastle Chronicle.
Volume XXI.
LYRA ELEGANTIARUM: a Collection of some of the best Specimens of Social and Occasional Verse by Deceased Authors. Revised and Enlarged Edition. Edited by Frederick Locker-Lampson, assisted by Coulson Kernahan. With Notes, and Portrait of the Editor.
The Lyra Elegantiarum, which is a standard and exhaustive collection of the best vers de Société and light lyrical verse in the language, has for some time been out of print, and second-hand copies have recently been sold for more than ten times the original price. In announcing this New Edition, the Publishers wish to call attention to the fact that not only has the work been thoroughly revised and brought up to date, but that it has also been greatly enlarged, and contains very many Poems not to be found in previous issues.
Volume XXII.
CARLYLE’S SARTOR RESARTUS, Heroes and Hero-Worship, and Past and Present. With a Critical Introduction by the Editor, Portrait of Carlyle, etc.
“Messrs. Ward & Lock’s ‘Minerva Library’ comes with particular acceptance. The first seven volumes of the series are before us, and they are models of cheapness and general excellence.”—The Star.
Volume XXIII.
THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN; including his Autobiography. Edited from his Manuscripts and Correspondence, by John Bigelow. Revised Edition. With a Portrait of Franklin.
This is the fullest and most important life of Franklin, almost entirely in his own words, giving, in addition to the narrative of his extraordinary early struggles, his career as a printer, and his scientific struggles, a copious account of the events which led up to the War of Independence, the negotiations during the war, and those by which peace was concluded.
WARD, LOCK AND CO., London, New York, and Melbourne.
AND OF ALL BOOKSELLERS.