“It is a translation from the French by Leila-Hanoum, by Gen. R. E. Colston, late Bey on the General Staff, Egyptian Army, who thinks (and we agree with him) that it will give the readers a more complete idea of the Mussulman than he could obtain by wading through volumes of mere description. What the novels of Georg Ebers are to the life of ancient Egypt and Rome, and the stories of Galdós are to the life of Spain, the Tragedy in the Imperial Harem is to the life of Turkey, as revealed in the luxuriant, indolent idleness of the Sultan and in the endless intrigues of his Pashas and Beys, and as concealed (at least from the eye of the Giaour) in the stifling recesses of the seraglio. It is a story of love and vengeance, the love and the vengeance of harem life running like a black thread through the tawdry splendor of two generations, and shooting its stains along the web and woof of other lives than those of the sufferers. If it reminds us of anything, it is of the early romantic work of Byron, who was the first Englishman whom the East really inspired, and who painted with singular poetic power the dark unbridled passion of its souls of fire—‘with whom revenge was virtue.’ We have in the Tragedy in the Imperial Harem a prose-poem of striking interest, and of permanent value, as a picture of Eastern manners.”—The Mail and Express, New York.
William S. Gottsberger, Publisher, New York.
A PRACTICAL METHOD
FOR
Learning Spanish
BY
A. RAMOS DIAZ DE VILLEGAS
“Spanish is not under any circumstances a difficult language to learn. It has in its construction and pronunciation an encouraging directness very unlike the grammatical involutions of German and the delicate sound-shadings of French. Working in accordance with the rules of almost any ‘system,’ a diligent student can in a very little while acquire a fair mastery of the language; though it is true that some of the ‘systems’ are much more difficult than others. One of the simplest and best of them all is ‘A Practical Method for Learning Spanish,’ by Señor A. Ramos Diaz de Villegas, just now published by William S. Gottsberger, New York. The ‘method’ of Señor de Villegas comprehends a collection of anecdotes arranged in short lines with an English translation, similarly arranged, on the corresponding opposite page; familiar phrases, with idiomatic renderings in English in parallel columns; a vocabulary of words in common use, and a complete list of the Spanish irregular verbs. It will be observed that this method hardly can be called original; that it is more or less that of Morales, of Velazquez, of Prendergast, and that some of its features are found in Ollendorff and in Ahn; but in simplicity of arrangement and directness of purpose it is superior to all of these—Prendergast possibly excepted. It certainly is what it is called—a practical method for learning Spanish. With a relatively small outlay of mental exertion it produces exceptionally good results.”—Philadelphia Times, June 24, 1882.
One Vol., 12mo.—Price 75 Cents.
Sent by mail, post-paid, on receipt of price.
WILLIAM S. GOTTSBERGER,
Publisher,