As a record of facts bearing upon the history, authenticity and interpretation of the New Testament Scriptures, this work is invaluable, and no theological library is complete without it. Information upon the subjects treated equally comprehensive can be found in no other form so easily accessible and at so little cost. 12mo. $1.00.
WIDE AWAKE PLEASURE BOOK, Q. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.50. Another volume in the charming set of books for girls and boys, and we might almost say for men and women, for grown people take as much delight in their pages as the younger ones. It is no disparagement to the former issues to say that the present one surpasses them, for progress is the rule of its publishers, and the endeavor to do things better grows more and more decided every year. The Pleasure Book for 1884 contains stories by a score of the most popular writers of the day, sketches of life and character, bits of biography and history, narratives of travel, poems, charades, music, puzzles, etc. Its pages are enriched with hundreds of illustrations, drawn and engraved expressly for its pages, making text and engravings together, one of the choicest juvenile annuals issued by any publishing firm in the country.
A FAMILY FLIGHT AROUND HOME. By Rev. E.E. Hale and Susan Hale. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price, $2.50. To those who have already made acquaintance with the former books of this series no word of praise of the present volume is necessary. It is animated by the same spirit, and prepared according to the same plan, and characterized by the same bright, sharp way of putting things. Although it is not dependent upon either of its predecessors, its characters are the same, and the reader has few new acquaintances to make. Of course the Horners are the central figures. The scene opens in Boston, or rather in East Boston, at the wharves of the Cunard Steamship Company, where Mr. Horner and Tom meet Hubert Vaughan, who, the reader will remember, was left behind in Europe at the close of the preceding volume. On his arrival they proceeded to the Hotel Vendôme, where Miss Lejeune is awaiting them, and the next day the party start for Mr. Horner's old home in Northern Vermont. Here, and in the country surrounding, the larger part of the summer is spent, the young people making excursions in all directions, taking in Lake Champlain, with all its historical and romantic surroundings: the Adirondack region, Lake George, and Schroon Lake, besides enjoying themselves nearer home in fishing and camping out. Into the story of their experience and adventures the authors weave a great deal of interesting local history, and in such a manner as to make a strong impression upon the mind of young readers. The volume is brought out in the same elegant form as its predecessors, with the same clear handsome pages and same wealth of illustration. The well-known reputation of the authors, the racy and unconventional style of the narrative and the superb manner in which the publishers have performed their part of the work, places the volume in the very front rank of the choice illustrated books of the season.
ODE: INTIMATIONS OF IMMORTALITY. By William Wordsworth. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $2.00. This beautiful volume challenges comparison with any of the medium priced presentation books of the year. The poem itself Is one of the most perfect in the language, while the full page illustrations which accompany it represent the most exquisite work of such artists as F.C. Hassam, Lungren, Miss L.B. Humphrey, W.L. Taylor, W. John Harper and Smedley. Nothing has been left undone to make a perfect book. The paper is of the finest, the print beautifully clear, and the broad margin and elegant binding make it altogether a volume winch will attract the eye, and satisfy the artistic taste of the book-buying public.
MONEY IN POLITICS. By J.K. Upton, with an Introduction by Edward Atkinson, Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. $1.25. Mr. Upton, as many readers know, was for some years assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and, as a consequence, has a thorough understanding of the subject upon which he writes. His book is a complete history of American coinage and money issues, the management of national monetary affairs, and the different legal tender acts that have been discussed or passed by Congress. Mr. Atkinson, in his introduction, says of the book that it gives, in his judgment, the best record of legislation in the United States yet presented in regard to coinage, to legal tender acts, and other matters connected with our financial history. It shows in the most conclusive manner the futility of all attempts to cause two substances to become, and to remain of the same value or estimation, by acts of legislation. It gives a true picture of the vast injury to the welfare and to the moral integrity of the people of this country, which ensued from the enactment of the acts of legal tender during the late war, whereby the promise of a dollar was made equal in the discharge of a contract to the dollar itself. It shows that the mode of collecting a forced loan was the must costly and injurious method of taxation which could have been devised. It proves in the most conclusive way, the injury which will surely come when by present acts of coinage and of legal tender, our gold coin has been driven from the country, and our standard of value becomes a silver dollar of light weight and of uncertain value.
This book, Mr. Atkinson asserts, will prove to the mind of every thinking man that, if we persist much longer in sustaining the acts of coinage and legal tender which now encumber the statute book, our national credit will be impaired and all our working people, whose wages are paid in money, will be subjected to the most injurious form of special taxation which could be devised; it proves that a considerable portion of their wages will be taken from them under due process of law without power of redress on their part, while the rich and astute advocates of the present system will reap wealth which they nave not earned by taking from the laborer apart of that which is his rightful due. It is therefore of inestimable importance as giving the general reader a clear understanding of the real condition of things, and educating him into the right method of thinking about these matters, which sooner or later, will have to be settled by the voice of the people.
THE COUNTESS OF ALBANY. By Vernon Lee. Famous Women Series, Boston: Roberts Brothers. Price $1.00. In this volume we have a biography of a once famous, now almost forgotten, person. The Countess of Albany gained her prominence in the political and social world of the latter half of the eighteenth century, not by any greatness of character or of achievement, but solely by favor of Fortune; for it does appear as a compensation for the misery of her domestic life that she was accorded a position in the world gratifying to her nature to hold. Fate certainly owed the woman destined to live for a few years only, but those years long ones, the wife of that Stuart known as the Pretender, many years in which she could be mistress of herself and the recipient of kindly consideration, if not some measure of posthumous fame. The book gives us pictures not only of the countess, but of many persons of more or less renown with whom she was associated. We are introduced to a somewhat distinguished company of civil and ecclesiastical officials, persons of literary and artistic tastes—men and women yet of historic note. The pictures are sketched with great power and painted in solid. The subjects are mostly such as would have delighted a Flemish artist to paint, and they have received true Flemish treatment. The author displays not a little of Carlyle's power of characterization.
PLUCKY BOYS. By the author of "John Halifax, Gentleman," and other authors. Illustrated. Boston: D. Lothrop & Co. Price $1.50. If there is any book of the season that we can heartily commend to boys of the stirring wide awake kind, it is this. The eighteen stories of which it consists, are by well-known writers, all lovers of boys and admirers of pluck, truthfulness, and manliness in them. The various young heroes described represent in their characters some particular quality which entitles them to be classed under the title which the compiler has given the book. Mrs. Craik's story is called "Facing the World;" Sophie May tells about "Joe and his Business Experiences;" George Gary Eggleston contributes a sketch called "Lambert's Ferry;" Kate Upson Clark has a story called "Granny," and there are others by authors of such reputation as Amanda B. Harris, Sarah Orne Jewett, Mary Wager Fisher, Hope Ledyard, Susan Power, Edith Robinson, and Tarpley Starr. The volume is bound in holiday style, and will make a capital gift book for that class of young readers for whom it was specially prepared.
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
Of Marion Harland's latest book, "Cookery for Beginners," the London Saturday Review says: "Mrs. Harland's little book shows its origin by the singular predominance of sweets (which is, speaking roughly, about three to one), and by such odd phrases—odd, that is to say, to an English ear—as that the chief merit of a cook is 'the ability to make good bread.' Alas! if that be so, how many inhabitants of London, England, possess a good cook? But Mrs. Harland is free from even a rag of national prejudice. She sternly, and with almost frightful boldness, denies the sacred PIE so much as a place in her book, and she ventures on the following utterance, which we purposely place in italics, and for which we hope that the eagle, whose home is in the settin' sun, has not already torn out her eyes. 'The best way,' says this daring inhabitant of Boston, Mass., 'to manage a boiled egg at the table [she speaks of it, it will be observed, as if it were a kind of wild beast] is the English way of setting it upright in the small end of the eggcup [Great powers! most Britons will cry, what is the large end of an eggcup?], making a hole in the top [note the precision of these indications] large enough to admit the eggspoon, and eating it from the top, seasoning it as you go.' The courage and genius of Mrs. Harland are not more clearly indicated by this sentence than the deplorable habits of her countrymen. She ought to be called, not Marion, but Columba. To desist from folly, however, her little book is a very interesting and valuable one. Its receipts, though few, are given with singular clearness and in the most practical of manners, and the mechanical value of the book is much increased by the inclusion of a large number of blank pages for additional receipts."