Theodore Edward Hook was one of the most popular of the authors who died in the last year. His table wit, it is said, in freshness and exuberance, was never equalled in England; and the humor that pervades his writings will keep them in favor probably for centuries. The novel before us was his last. It appeared originally by separate chapters in the New Monthly Magazine, of which he was editor; and he was engaged in its revision when seized by the disease which terminated his career. His first work—excepting some plays written in his boyhood—was “Sayings and Doings,” published in 1824. It was followed by a second and third series of the same work; by “Maxwell,” “The Parson’s Daughter,” “Jack Brag,” “Births, Deaths, and Marriages,” “Gilbert Gurney,” “Gurney Married,” “Precepts and Practice,” several volumes of biography, and “Fathers and Sons.” He died on the twenty-second day of September, 1841, in the fifty-third year of his age.
His last work has all his peculiarities; the most felicitous humor; graphic delineations of character; and incidents interesting and ingeniously diversified. We have not space for an analysis of its plot; and one is the less necessary, as, notwithstanding the “hardness of the times,” very few will permit the last legacy of Theodore Hook to go unread.
Sermons and Sketches of Sermons, by the Rev John Summerfield, M. A. With an Introduction, by the Rev. Thomas E. Bond, M. D. One vol. 8vo. Pp. 437. Harper & Brothers: New York.
John Summerfield was one of those remarkable men who have appeared from time to time to electrify the religious world, by eloquence the most persuasive, and lives which served as samples by which those who would might guide their course to heaven. He began to preach in Ireland, when but twenty years of age, and soon after came to the United States, where he continued to labor as an evangelist until his death, which occurred sixteen years ago. Most of the sermons and sketches of sermons included in the volume before us were written down after their public delivery. They possess a deep interest, especially to those who remember the sainted author, more worthy of canonization than were ninety-nine hundredths of those whose names are included in the calendar. Henry Perkins: Philadelphia.
Practical Geology and Mineralogy; with Instructions for the qualitative analysis of Minerals. By Joshua Trimmer, F. G. S.—Itum est in viscera terræ. One vol. Lea & Blanchard: Philadelphia.
A valuable elementary treatise on Geology. For the convenience of those who have not access to cabinets of minerals, the author has collected various chemical and mineralogical details, to enable any person easily to recognise the different minerals when discovered in the fields. In the purely geological part of the work, Mr. Trimmer has confined himself to facts and classifications and a few universally admitted inferences, avoiding all questions affecting the higher generalizations, since they are still and must long continue to be matters of controversy. The work is illustrated with wood-cuts. We commend it to students in geology.
Italy and the Italian Islands, from the earliest ages to the present time. By William Spalding, Esq. With engravings and illustrative maps and plans. Three vols. Harper & Brothers: New York.