NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.
The reputation which Mr. Finlay has acquired by his History of Greece, and his Greece under the Romans, will unquestionably be increased by his newly published History of the Byzantine Empire from dccxvi. to mlvii. The subject is one of great interest to the scholar; and the manner in which Mr. Finlay has traced the progress of the eastern Roman empire through an eventful period of three centuries and a half, and while doing so enriched his pages with constant reference to the original historians, has certainly enabled him to accomplish the object which he has avowedly had in view, namely, that of making his work serve not only as a popular history, but also as an index for scholars who may be more familiar with classic literature than with the Byzantine writers.
We understand that Her Majesty and Prince Albert, with that appreciation of the beautiful and the useful for which they are distinguished, have shown their opinion of the value of photography by becoming the Patrons of the Photographic Society.
The Camden Society is about to put to press a work which will be of great value to our topographical writers, as well as to historians generally, namely, The Extent of the Estates of the Hospitalers in England, taken under the direction of Prior Philip de Thame, a.d. 1338. The original MS. is at Malta; and though the transcript of it was made by a most competent hand, we have reason to believe that our correspondent at La Valetta (W. W.) would be doing good service both to the Society and to the world of letters, and one which would be most acceptable to the Transcriber, if he could find it convenient to revise the proof sheets with the original document.
Books Received.—Cyclopædia Bibliographica, a Library Manual of Theological and General Literature. Part IX. of this useful Library Companion extends from Göthe to Matthew Henry.—Reynard the Fox, after the German Version of Göthe, with Illustrations, by J. Wolf. Part VI. Contains Chap. VI. The Relapse.—Messrs. Longman have added to their Traveller's Library (in two parts) an interesting and cleverly written account of our Coal Mines, and those who live in them, which gives a graphic picture of the places and persons to whom we are all for so many months indebted for our greatest comfort.—Mr. Bohn continues his good work of supplying excellent books at moderate prices. We are this month indebted to him for publishing in his Scientific Library the third volume of Miss Ross' excellent translation of Humboldt's Personal Narrative of his Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America, which is enriched with a very copious index. In his Classical Library he has given us Translations of Terence and Phædrus; and in his Antiquarian Library, the second volume of what, in spite of the laches pointed out by one of our correspondents, we must pronounce a most useful work for the mere English reader, the second volume of Mr. Riley's translation of Roger de Hoveden's Annals of English History, which completes the work. Probably, however, the volume which Mr. Bohn has just published in his Standard Library is the one which will excite most interest. It is issued as a continuation of Coxe's History of the House of Austria, and consists (for the most part) of a translation of Count Hartig's Genesis of the Revolution in Austria.