Art Journal, August.
"This is just the book to place in the hands of an intelligent boy or girl—for why should the useful information it contains be limited to sex?—who desires to know something about those things from which so much of his comfort and enjoyment is derived. Every youth in Prussia, whatever be his condition—the prince and the peasant alike—is, we believe, compelled by the laws which apply in that country to education, to learn some trade or handicraft. Mr. Noyce's book will serve to initiate every boy in the United Kingdom who reads it, into the theoretical art and mystery of the material and manufacturing world. He divides his teachings into six sections, under the respective heads of Natural Products, Manufactured Products, Products of Skilled Labour, Arts and Trade Processes, Apparatus and Machinery, and Engineering Works, bringing into notice more than one hundred and fifty different subjects. The explanations and descriptions are, as they should be, simple and untechnical, as far as possible; concise, yet sufficiently demonstrative; a multum in parvo, to which Messrs. Dalziel's clear and well-executed engravings give great additional value. Such a volume is worth a hundred story-books as a present to the juveniles."
Illustrated London News, July 3.
"This work, by Elisha Noyce, with 365 illustrations by the Brothers Dalziel, is calculated to do much good. The object is not only to please, but to instruct; and, although written ostensibly for the young, it may be read with advantage by all who desire to possess a knowledge of things in everyday use. The information throughout is conveyed in a clear and understandable form; this, combined with its pictures on every page, is well calculated to make the mind familiar with many objects that as a rule have hitherto been but imperfectly realised to the young. The book is admirably adapted to assist those who are about to make choice of an occupation, and this of itself would make it a welcome addition to the numerous works written for the information and guidance of the rising generation. The book is published by Ward and Lock."
Dispatch, July 4.
There is really a great deal to recommend this book to the attention of the public as one especially adapted for the entertainment and the instruction of the young. The subjects themselves embrace the whole arcana of the material universe, the mineral and vegetable products of the earth, their properties, manufacture, and varied convertibility to the service and uses of man. Three hundred and sixty-five first-class engravings, from the pencils of the Brothers Dalziel, and most of these being illustrative of the finished machinery of Woolwich Arsenal, and drawn by permission of the authorities, add to the value of the matter incorporated in these pages, while in almost all other forms the industrial arts, with their varied apparatus and machinery, are ably and fully described. It is a true "Boy's Book," and merits the amplest circulation possible for it to attain.
Daily Telegraph, July 20.
The title of Mr. Noyce's book sufficiently explains its object, and we have only to say that it answers its purpose. It is clearly and amusingly written, and embraces a large variety of useful subjects, which it treats in a full, though, at the same time, a concise manner. The book is illustrated with three hundred and sixty-five excellent engravings by the Brothers Dalziel.
Leeds Times, July 31.