BACK numbers of the "Lady's Book" can be supplied from January, as the work is stereotyped.
A. HART, Esq.—Our friend Hart has retired from the book business. Happy man! He has not toiled so long as we have; but he has been more fortunate in laying up the "siller." But will he be as happy in his retirement as we are, quietly seated at our desk planning out new surprises for our hundred thousand subscribers? We think he will, as he has all the elements of happiness surrounding him—an honest man, beloved by his friends, and respected by all who know him; a cheerful disposition, a contented mind, a good heart—we were going to write Hart; it would have been as appropriate. That old south-east corner, Fourth and Chestnut, how well we know it! We remember Carey & Lea, and Carey, Lea, & Carey; E. L. Carey & A. Hart; and last, A. Hart—no, not last; it is now Parry & McMillan. Mr. Parry we have known—we will not mention the number of years, as we believe our friend Jesse wishes still to pass for a young man, albeit he is married. Matters will go on well, there, under his management. And he has an able partner in Mr. McMillan, who is not new to the business, having been a publisher in the British Provinces. Success to the new firm of Parry & McMillan!
The following remarks were made by Mr. Hart at the Trade Sale, where, by the way, his stereotype plates sold for $55,960, a pretty good day's work. Previous to the sale, Mr. Hart turned to the auctioneer, Moses Thomas, Esq., another of our good old friends, and said—
"You, sir, were the first person to introduce me into the book business, having given me a letter of credit to purchase, at the Boston trade sale, held in 1827, when I was but sixteen years of age, an amount of five-thousand dollars, on my own judgment, a confidence which I have remembered to this day; and, two years afterwards, you were instrumental in arranging the partnership for me with the late Edward L. Carey; and now, after twenty-five years of successful business, you are about to conduct me out of the trade, by disposing of my stereotype plates; and I must here acknowledge my gratitude to you for those acts of kindness and confidence extended towards a mere boy."
WE call attention to the advertisement of Boardman & Gray's Pianos on our cover. We know the instruments, and can recommend them. There is no firm in our country engaged in the manufacture of pianos upon whom more reliance can be placed than upon the gentlemen who are the subject of these remarks. A piano is an article that very few persons purchase more than once in a lifetime; it is therefore the more necessary that you select a manufacturer who is well known, and who can be vouched for—one whose pianos have stood the test of experience. We have been instrumental in selling a number of these instruments, and we have yet to hear the first complaint; on the contrary, we have been thanked for our recommendation of the house of Boardman & Gray. We give an extract of a letter from one of our subscribers, hoping that Messrs. B. & G. may take the hint contained in it:—
"CAMPBELL CO., Va., Feb. 22, 1854.
"No article you ever published possessed the hundredth part of the money value to your readers as your article on piano-fortes. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are every year invested in pianos, and a large proportion of them are not worth the cost of transportation. You have given us precisely that kind of information we needed, and in which we were greatly deficient. I shall shortly order one of Boardman & Gray's. These gentlemen ought to send to Mrs. Godey one of their best pianos, and, if it were accompanied by two hundred gold eagles, it would be only a fitting acknowledgment of benefits conferred.
"W. L. G."