To these will be added digests of Travels and Adventures in various Countries of the Old and New Worlds.
V. Popular Tales and Fiction.
The design of this Collection embraces many favourite old works, which, though containing much that has instructed and delighted our predecessors, are, nevertheless, but ill adapted in their original form for general perusal. Among these may be reckoned some works of fiction, the excellencies of which are often obscured by a grossness of style not uncommon at the time when they were composed, but which justly excludes them from family-reading in the present day. Such works would be acceptable if freed from objectionable passages; and in undertaking to accomplish this reform, without detriment to the spirit of the original, the Publisher relies on the approbation of a large class of persons, who will thus be enabled to place in the hands of the young, purified editions of those romantic and interesting tales which are naturally sought for by youthful readers, whose hands they might otherwise reach, tainted with their original impurities. Every work will be prepared for this series by a careful editing, in order to suit the general tone of thought, principle, and feeling which will pervade the whole Collection, and no work will be admitted, the name of whose author is associated with considerations painful to Christian feeling, good taste, or propriety.
Among the new works intended to be included in this division, may be mentioned a series of tales, illustrative of the manners and customs of the people of different climes. Of these, the following, among others, are ready for early publication:
Norah Toole, a Tale of Ireland; My Son Mike, or, the Irish Emigrant in the United States; and Rob Maxwell, a Tale of the Highlands of Scotland.
The Spanish Merchant and his Daughter, or, Life in Spain; a Tale illustrative of Domestic Manners and Customs.
Van-ti, or, Life in China; The Leicesters, or, Life in Hindostan.
The Merchant and the Friar; or, Truths and Fictions of the Middle Ages. A New Edition, revised by the Author.
The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins, a Cornish Man. Carefully revised and corrected.
The most Delectable History of Reynard the Fox; an old Romance, thoroughly revised and corrected.